Gaza ceasefire takes effect as Israeli gov't approves Trump Peace Plan

A ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization took effect early on Friday morning, as Israel Defense Forces began to withdraw its troops shortly after the government formally approved the deal proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The withdrawal is expected to be completed within 24 hours, leaving the IDF in control of 53% of the Gaza Strip, including a perimeter around its border that includes the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border.

Once the process is complete, Hamas is expected to release all 48 remaining Israeli hostages within the next 72 hours.

וידאו: דברי ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו בישיבת הממשלה לאישור מתווה שחרור החטופים, יחד עם השליח המיוחד סטיב וויטקוף וחתנו של נשיא ארה״ב ג׳ארד קושנר. pic.twitter.com/OFz7xy0iZe

— ראש ממשלת ישראל (@IsraeliPM_heb) October 9, 2025

In the last hours before the ceasefire took effect, an Israeli reservist soldier was killed by a Hamas sniper in Gaza City, the IDF announced.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Michael Mordechai Nachmani (26) from Dimona, who served in the IDF’s 614th Combat Engineering Battalion.

At approximately 12:30 a.m., after hours of deliberations and discussion, the Israeli government announced that it “approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased.”

The Prime Minister’s Office did not include a vote tally in its statement. However, Israeli media reported that all ministers from the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties opposed the deal, except for Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, along with Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu from the Jewish Power party voted against.

From the Religious Zionism party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock, Israeli Settlements and National Projects Minister, opposed the ceasefire deal.

President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined the Cabinet meeting for about one hour.

Ben Gvir’s party has vowed to remain in the government for now but to bring it down if Hamas is not dismantled. According to Kan News, he also clashed with Witkoff and Kushner during the meeting.

Ben Gvir reportedly opposed the release of specific Palestinian terrorists from prison, causing a significant delay in the proceedings. He allegedly confronted Kushner and Witkoff, arguing that the United States would never release such terrorists under similar circumstances.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later addressed the Cabinet in their presence, noting that the war aim of the release of “all of the hostages, the living and the dead,” was about to be realized.

“We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with [Strategic Affairs Minister] Ron [Dermer] and his team, our team. That, and the courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza, had a combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas.”

Witkoff has acted as the primary U.S. mediator in the ceasefire negotiations since the start of Trump's second term in the White House. He and Kushner, who joined the negotiations in recent months, arrived in Egypt on Wednesday, shortly before the agreement was reached.

In his statement, Kushner stressed that the achievements “wouldn’t have been possible without the bravery of the IDF and the soldiers… not just in Gaza, but also what they've done in the theater over the last couple of years to eliminate Hezbollah in the north and really degrade them, what you were able to do in Iran.”

Kushner added, "I know a lot of you, probably all of you, have family, friends who were in this effort, really put your sacrifices on the line to fight for your country and to try and make a difference."

Kushner specifically praised Netanyahu, telling him that he “really did an incredible job with this and did a great job with the negotiations. You held your lines firm.”

Witkoff also acknowledged the “hard job” Netanyahu faces in protecting the country and “making tough choices with regard to how tough to be with Hamas, when to be flexible, when not to be flexible.”

“There were times that I thought we should be more flexible, or your country should be more flexible. But the truth is, as I look back, I don't think we’d get to this place without Prime Minister Netanyahu playing it out… My president believes it. He believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu made some very, very difficult calls. And lesser people would not have made those calls. And here we are today because Hamas had to. They had to do this deal. The pressure was on them.”