LONDON and TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his cabinet to discuss the proposed ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with the cabinet and broader government expected to approve the plan to end the two-year war.
The cabinet will meet after days of intense negotiations in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Israeli and Hamas representatives discussed the final details of a plan based on the 20-point proposal presented by US President Donald Trump last month.
Netanyahu is expected to call his cabinet meeting at 5 p.m. local time, 10 a.m. ET. Cabinet is expected to approve the deal, after which the proposal will be presented to the wider government. A government vote to ratify the deal is then expected around 6 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. ET.
The cessation of all fighting by the IDF and Hamas will take effect after Israel’s government ratifies the agreement, according to an Israeli official.
A person wearing a mask representing US President Donald Trump holds US and Israeli flags in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on October 9, 2025.
Maya Levin/AFP via Getty Images
Trump announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of the deal, in which all remaining hostages, living and dead, will be released from Gaza in exchange for an as-yet-undetermined number of Palestinians being detained in Israeli prisons. The release of almost 2,000 prisoners is believed to be under discussion.
The Israel Defense Forces will also withdraw to the so-called “yellow line” in Gaza, referring to a proposed ceasefire map released by the White House last month that shows multiple stages of withdrawal. The full details of the agreed deal have not been made public and the exact location of that “line” may have changed during negotiations.
A senior Israeli official told ABC News that the 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release all hostages will begin after the Israeli government ratifies the deal, which it is expected to do on Thursday.
Therefore, the 20 hostages believed to be still alive are expected to be released all in one group on Sunday or Monday, the official said.
An Israeli official told ABC News that the IDF will have 24 hours to move to the yellow line once the government ratifies the agreement.
“This means that ALL hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw its troops to an agreed line as the first steps towards a strong, lasting and eternal peace. All parties will be treated fairly!” Trump said in a social media post, explaining the first phase of the deal.
“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding nations and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event a reality,” the post continued.
Smoke rises following an Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, on October 9, 2025.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Key Arab and Muslim states said in supportive statements that they would back the White House plan, and all pressured Hamas to accept the plan that could end more than two years of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip, which has been largely destroyed by Israeli offensives since the war began after Hamas’ surprise terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Intense attacks continued across Gaza on Thursday, even as negotiators in Egypt hammered out the final elements of the deal.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
