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Israel's cabinet has formally approved a comprehensive truce deal that includes the release of all outstanding detainees held by the militant group in the Gaza Strip, marking a significant step toward concluding the destructive two-year conflict.

American Armed Forces Involvement in Overseeing the Ceasefire

Senior representatives in Washington have confirmed that a American military team of around 200 members will be sent to the region to "supervise" the cessation of hostilities after both Israeli authorities and the militant organization consented to the first phase of the former President Trump administration's peace initiative.

The role will be to supervise, observe, make sure there are no breaches.

Immediate Implementation Timeframe

According to an Israel's official, the truce should begin immediately following administration ratification. The Israeli army was given 24 hours to retreat its units to an established line. Following that, the detainees held in Gaza would be released within 72 hours, a cabinet representative declared.

Key Events

• Hamas' exiled Gaza Strip leader Khalil Al-Hayya stated he had received assurances from the US and other mediators that the conflict was finished.
• The head of the US armed forces' Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, would initially have 200 individuals on the location, a top US representative confirmed.
• Egyptian, from Qatar, Turkish and probably from the UAE armed forces officials would be integrated in the team, the American official stated. A additional official clarified that "American troops are planned to go into Gaza".
• Israeli airstrikes continued in the period preceding the Israel's administration's decision. Explosions were witnessed on Thursday in north Gaza, and a airstrike on a building in the Gaza capital claimed the lives of at least two individuals and left more than 40 stranded under debris, according to Palestinian emergency services.
• A minimum of 11 dead Gazan residents and another 49 who were wounded were brought at medical facilities over the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry reported.
• Israel was striking locations that presented a threat to its soldiers as they relocate, said an Israeli armed forces authority who spoke on the basis of anonymity. Hamas condemned Israeli authorities over the strike, saying that Netanyahu was trying to "shuffle the cards and confuse" efforts by mediators to conclude the war.
• Twenty Israeli hostages are still considered to be surviving in Gaza, while twenty-six are believed fatally injured, and the fate of 2 is unknown.
• Former President Trump government wider 20-point peace initiative includes many unresolved issues, such as if and how the militant organization will disarm. But both parties appeared more proximate than they have been in months to terminating the war, which was sparked by the militant group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which approximately 1,200 persons were murdered and 251 abducted, leading to an Israeli retaliation that has left more than 67,000 Palestinians fatally injured and nearly 170,000 injured, as per Gaza's health authority.
• Israeli Defense Forces confirmed an Israeli soldier, a 26-year-old reserve military personnel, was killed in a Hamas sniper attack in Gaza City on the previous day late in the day. This occurred after Israel's and militant representatives agreed to a arrangement in Egypt to guarantee the return of the captives, but the halt in fighting part of the deal had not yet taken place.
• Israel's outlet Haaretz has published the identities of Palestinian inmates it considers could be liberated as part of the new arrangement. 250 Palestinian prisoners who are completing life sentences are projected to be freed as part of the deal, out of about 290 presently held in Israeli incarceration. 22 minors will also be liberated.

International Reaction

There have been no plans for UK or EU forces to be in Gaza after the truce agreement, the UK's top diplomat Yvette Cooper stated. "This is not our plan, there's no arrangements to do that," she said on Friday morning.

She noted: "However there is an immediate proposal for the US to lead what is effectively like a supervision procedure to guarantee that this happens on the ground, to supervise the system with hostage liberation, and also guaranteeing that this primary stage is executed, getting the humanitarian assistance in location, but they have also made very clear that they anticipate the troops on the ground to be supplied by adjacent nations, and that is something that we do expect to happen."

The foreign secretary said she expects the truce will be executed "without delay". According to the foreign secretary, there are international talks on an "international protection force" and the UK was continuing to participate in other ways, including exploring getting non-governmental funding into the Gaza Strip.

Public Response

Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents alike rejoiced after the ceasefire deal was declared, while there was joy but also anxiety in Gaza amid fears the latest agreement could collapse.