Israel and militant group Hamas have signed a deal to stop the fighting and trade Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees in the most significant step to end the war in Gaza after two years.
The two sides have signed off on the first phase of the U.S. Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
Dozens were waiting at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square as Israeli ministers were meeting to discuss whether they should approve the Gaza ceasefire plan.
If the deal is approved, Hamas will have 72 hours to release all 20 hostages believed to be alive, and Israel will release around 250 prisoners serving life sentences in its jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.
The Israeli military will also withdraw to a line that will leave it in control of around 53% of the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of lorries carrying humanitarian aid will also enter Gaza, where a famine was confirmed by UN-backed experts in August.
Key Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said he had received assurances from the mediators and U.S. officials that if the peace plan was approved, the war in Gaza would be “completely over”.
It would lead to the opening of the Rafah border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to allow aid to enter the Palestinian territory and exchange prisoners.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took to social media to say that he would not approve the peace plan because of the provision calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
"I and the ministers of Otzma Yehudit [Ben-Gvir's political party] will not be able to raise our hands in favour of a deal that releases those murderous terrorists, and we will oppose it in the government," he wrote on social media.
In an interview with Fox News, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said a ceasefire would come into effect “immediately after” the deal is approved by the Israeli government.
