After Thursday night Israel’s security cabinet formally approved Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, the ceasefire has formally taken effect Friday, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly completed a withdrawal to agreed-upon deployment lines within Gaza at noon.
The IDF withdrawal, which occurred under cover of artillery fire and airstrikes in some areas, starts a 72-hour countdown during which Hamas is to release all remaining hostages as part of the first phase of the US-brokered deal. The IDF released footage of its drawdown.
“CENTCOM has confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces completed the first phase withdrawal to the yellow line at 12PM local time. The 72 hour period to release the hostages has begun,” Steve Witkoff posted on X, offering US verification.
With the withdrawal, Israel’s military now effectively controls a little over half of the Strip’s territory, but which is mostly outside urban zones.
Al Jazeera is reporting that displaced residents of the north have begun seeking to return to their largely devastated homes and communities. This as Gaza’s Government Media Office is urging Palestinians “to cooperate and be disciplined” as the resumption of aid starts flowing.
Hamas-linked Palestinian police forces in Gaza have begun moving back into areas the IDF withdrew from, saying officers will “fulfil their duties of serving and supporting citizens, and protecting public and private property.”
“We call on citizens to be extremely cautious and vigilant when returning to their homes and residential areas for the presence of suspicious objects, hazardous waste, and unexploded bombs,” it said.
In some places, fighting and shelling continued even as the historic ceasefire was announced, as Israeli media documents:
- Media outlets in Gaza reported Friday that five people were seriously injured in an IDF strike on a school that had been serving as a shelter for displaced people in Jabalia, in northern Gaza City.
- ahead of the deal taking effect, an IDF reservist soldier was killed in a Hamas sniper attack in Gaza City on Thursday afternoon.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a video address while getting visibly emotional the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip “is an emotional moment for the people of Israel and for the IDF troops and soldiers who have fought and acted over the past two years with courage, bravery, and out of a sense of mission and dedication.”
The Red Cross in Israel is getting ready to receive the hostages, and early Hamas reportedly indicated it will not release them with any kind of ceremony or other propaganda, as it did in initial rounds.
Hamas has meanwhile said it got no clear indications on its submitted list of Palestinian prisoners it expects to be returned, instead, as Times of Israel details:
Israel has published the full list of 250 Palestinian security prisoners serving life sentences slated for release as part of the hostage-ceasefire agreement.
The list, published by the Justice Ministry, comes the morning after the cabinet approved the US-backed deal, aimed at returning the remaining hostages and permanently ending the Gaza war. Of the 250 prisoners, 15 will be freed to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank and 135 are slated for deportation.
🎥WATCH: Southern Command troops in the midst of adjusting operational positions in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/P0ruvWTmQ9
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 10, 2025
Hamas wanted to see Popular Front leader Ahmad Sa’adat and senior Hamas figures Ibrahim Hamed and Hassan Salameh on the list of those to be released, but they are not.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Netanyahu has threatened that full war will return to the Gaza Strip if Hamas doesn’t fulfil its end of the deal, and if it doesn’t do things “the easy way”.
Loading recommendations…
