By Jacob Burg and Jackson Richman
The Israeli military said on Friday that the cease-fire in Gaza had come into effect at midday, as troops began their initial withdrawal.
“Since 12:00, IDF troops began positioning themselves along the updated deployment lines in preparation for the ceasefire agreement and the return of hostages,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced on X at around 12:20 p.m. local time. “IDF troops in the Southern Command are deployed in the area and will continue to remove any immediate threat.”
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Friday that the Israeli military had completed the first phase withdrawal.
“CENTCOM has confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces completed the first phase withdrawal to the yellow line at 12PM local time,” Witkoff said on X. “The 72 hour period to release the hostages has begun.”
In a statement to the media on Friday, Netanyahu said that Israeli forces would remain in Gaza to pressure Hamas until the group disarms.
“We are closing in on Hamas from every direction, moving toward the next stages of the plan, in which Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza demilitarized,” he said. “If this can be achieved the easy way, so much the better. If not, it will be achieved the hard way.”
Netanyahu said the task of recovering the remaining hostages, 20 alive and 28 deceased, has been the “hardest challenge.”
“I promised them, I will not give up on anyone, not a single one. And indeed, all the hostages will return to us,” he said. “In the coming days, God willing, we will bring them all home.”
On Thursday evening, the Israeli Cabinet approved the “framework” of a deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group to end the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages, living and deceased, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Oct. 9.
“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages–the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu’s English-language X account wrote.
According to an Israeli government spokesperson. Hamas will have 72 hours to release the hostages, meaning they will have to be released by Monday.
In exchange for the hostages, Israel will release more than 2,000 prisoners, including 250 who are serving life sentences.
The Israel Defense Forces will then withdraw to a line that gives it control of 53 percent of the Gaza Strip.
The announcement came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas had agreed to the U.S.-drafted deal for the release of the remaining hostages, a breakthrough toward ending the now two-year-long war in Gaza.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social when he announced the development. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”

Trump told reporters on Oct. 9 that he would be traveling to the Middle East on Sunday, hoping to be present when Hamas releases the last 20 living hostages the terrorist group has held since its land, sea, and air attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and oversee the implementation of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
The U.S. president said Israel also invited the Knesset, the nation’s parliament.
During White House press call on Thursday, senior administration officials described some of the efforts to broker a hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
“There was a negotiation in August that talked about a prisoner swap of—a hostage swap of 10 people. We took principles from that, principles from other hostage releases, put it all together,” one official said.
The official said the U.S. team put those principles on a piece of paper while negotiating with the Qataris as intermediaries, discussing features of the cease-fire, including the decommissioning of arms, how a “technocratic government would come in and run the Gaza Strip,” and how the Israeli army would redeploy following the end of the war.
“Last night, we began to have some very, very serious breakthroughs with regard to all of these issues,” the official said. “And from those serious breakthroughs came some telephone calls where we agreed to reconvene last night, and we were able to settle some consequential things.”
Celebrations Sweep Israel and Gaza
Even before the Israeli Cabinet had approved the framework of a deal to release the hostages and implement a cease-fire to end the war, celebrations had swept across both Israel and Gaza.
In Gaza, Palestinians swarmed the streets of Khan Yunis, singing, dancing, and clapping in jubilation. In Israel, families of hostages expressed gratitude to Trump for his role in brokering the deal.
On Wednesday evening, families of multiple hostages still held by Hamas joined U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a phone call with Trump.
Massive crowds also assembled at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Oct. 9 to celebrate the agreement. Israelis in Jerusalem expressed gratitude to both the U.S. and Israeli leaders.
“So happy to hear the hostages are coming back,” one resident told Reuters.
Evgenia Filimianova and T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.