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Hamas and Israel have continued to implement the October 9 ceasefire agreement. Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange on October 9, and the Israeli government approved the agreement on October 10. The agreement called for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and Israel to release Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Hamas released all 20 living hostages and the bodies of four deceased hostages on October 13. It is unclear when Hamas will release the remaining 24 deceased hostages. Israel previously stated that an unspecified international organization would help locate the remaining deceased hostages if Hamas did not release them by October 13. Israel released at least 1,700 Palestinian prisoners on October 13. The ceasefire agreement also calls for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip. Egypt sent approximately 400 aid trucks to the Gaza Strip on October 12. The aid will be distributed after Israel inspects the trucks. Humanitarian organizations are expected to deliver approximately 600 trucks of aid per day to the Gaza Strip.
US President Donald Trump traveled to Israel and Egypt to discuss the ceasefire with regional leaders. Trump addressed the Israeli Knesset on October 13 and told reporters that “the war is over.” Trump departed Israel to attend a summit in Sharm al Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13 to discuss outstanding aspects of the US plan with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and other Arab and regional leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Trump, Sisi, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a ceasefire plan during the summit. Trump said that the document, which the White House referred to as the “Gaza Peace Plan,” will “spell out rules and regulations” for the ceasefire. The US plan calls for representatives from the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey to coordinate the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Two hundred US military personnel will deploy to Israel to assist with the implementation of the ceasefire alongside forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The ceasefire agreement does not address key outstanding issues between Hamas and Israel, such as Hamas’ disarmament, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and future governance in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Israel concluded talks on Trump’s peace plan after both parties agreed to the first phase of the plan, and will not resume negotiations on outstanding issues until the first phase is implemented.
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