MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman expressed its welcome for the agreement on the terms and mechanisms for implementing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. This agreement is expected to contribute to halting the war, releasing prisoners and detainees on both sides, and ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Israel and Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza.
Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced, the biggest step yet to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that started it.
Officials on both sides confirmed they had signed the deal following indirect talks in Sharm el Sheikh. Under the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas will free all remaining hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel.
Fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid would be allowed to surge into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and razed entire cities to dust.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the ceasefire would take effect once the agreement is ratified by his government, which would convene in full after a meeting of his smaller security cabinet later on Thursday.
Much could still go wrong. Even after the deal was signed, a Palestinian source said the list of Palestinians to be freed had yet to be finalised. The group is seeking freedom for some of the most prominent Palestinian convicts held in Israeli jails, as well as hundreds of people detained during Israel's assault.
The deal received support from Arab and Western countries and was widely portrayed as a major diplomatic achievement for Trump, who cast it as a first step towards reconciliation in the wider Middle East.
"All Parties will be treated fairly! 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 Türkiye, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen," he wrote on social media. "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!" Western and Arab countries were meeting in Paris on Thursday to discuss an international peacekeeping force and reconstruction assistance for Gaza once the fighting stops.
Real progress in Gaza will come when obstacles to delivering humanitarian aid are removed, not just "silencing of the guns," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday. — Agencies
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