Live: Israel dropped 153 tonnes of bombs on Gaza on Sunday

The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, with no Americans actually on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US officials said on Thursday.

The officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the 200 would be a core part of a task force that would include representatives from the Egyptian armed forces, Qatar, Turkey and probably from the United Arab Emirates.

- Reporting by Reuters

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the Gaza ceasefire deal agreed upon one day earlier in Egypt.

The ceasefire went into effect in the enclave immediately, at 1:30am local time, with Al Araby TV's correspondent there confirming that the skies have gone quiet.

Hamas will release all Israeli captives in the next 72 hours, and in exchange, will receive 250 Palestinian prisoners given life sentences, as well as more than 1,000 captives from Gaza who were captured after 7 October 2023. 

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned on Thursday that his Jewish Power party would push to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government unless Hamas is "dismantled". 

“If the Hamas government is not dismantled, or if they only tell us that it is dismantled while in reality it continues to exist under a different guise - Jewish Power will dismantle the government,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement ahead of a Netanyahu cabinet meeting to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal. 

- Reporting by Reuters

This has been the longest, bloodiest and most destructive war fought by Israel against the Palestinians in the history of this conflict.

It will end in theatrics, largely orchestrated by US President Donald Trump, who will fly to Israel to welcome home the hostages who are still alive. There could also be a declaration, at the insistence of Hamas and Qatar, of a formal end to the war.

Israeli forces will pull back from all major cities in Gaza, and United Nations trucks will roll again into the enclave - for the moment.

But make no mistake: there is no agreement yet on the second or third phases of the deal, covering the disarmament of Hamas and the imposition of an international mandate to govern Gaza. And there is not likely to be. 

Read more: For Israeli colonialism, the end is nigh

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had no opinion on a two-state solution after being pressed by a reporter at his monthly cabinet meeting.

"I don't have a view. I'm going to go with what they agreed to," he said. 

He did not specify who "they" referred to, but likely meant Israel and the mediators, though the current ceasefire deal does not spell out a route to Palestinian statehood, and the Israeli government does not want one. 

Members of Trump's cabinet have publicly attacked US allies in recent weeks for their decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

The US president on Thursday said the ranks of Hamas lost "70,000" people - a figure that is even higher than the total number of known dead across the enclave, half of whom are women and children. 

As of Thursday morning local time in Gaza, health officials put the overall number of Palestinians killed in the genocide at 67,194.

"October 7 [2023] was terrible. But also, from the Hamas standpoint, they probably lost 70,000 people. That's big retribution," Donald Trump said at his monthly cabinet meeting. 

US President Donald Trump said at his monthly cabinet meeting that Israeli captives held in Gaza are likely to be released "Monday or Tuesday" per the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, and suggested that he would be in Israel for that event, and then go to Egypt for a signing ceremony. 

Egypt hosted three days of intensive talks this week that led to the ceasefire announcement late Wednesday night, local time. 

"The amazing thing is, all of the countries over there, from Qatar to Saudi Arabia to UAE, all of them - the rich ones, the less than rich ones - they've all come together, something which is amazing," Trump said of the deal that has been agreed upon.

"You have tremendous wealth in that part of the world by certain countries, and just a small part of what they make will do wonders for Gaza," he added.

"I think you're going to see some tremendous countries stepping up and putting up a lot of money and taking care of things". 

Israel's Channel 14 is reporting that the list of Palestinians who will be released from Israeli prisons - as part of the captive swap with Hamas - will be released later on Thursday, following the meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, and a vote on the ceasefire deal by the full government. 

The Israeli prime minister's office unilaterally removed Marwan Barghouti's name from the prisoner exchange list at the last minute, endangering the Gaza ceasefire deal's implementation, a source close to the prominent Palestinian prisoner previously told Middle East Eye. 

Barghouti, who is the most popular Palestinian political figure according to polls, was one of the most valuable names to potentially be traded for the 48 Israeli captives in Gaza.

The Egyptian Red Crescent told Reuters on Thursday that 153 aid trucks were headed into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing following the announcement of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire.

 "153 aid trucks entered through the Rafah crossing's bypass road, en route to the Kerem Shalom crossing, to be brought into the Gaza Strip", sources told Reuters.

Among the trucks were 80 from the UN, 21 from Qatar and 17 from the Egyptian Red Crescent, they added. 

US President Donald Trump is expected to visit Jerusalem on Sunday, according to a statement from the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Herzog's plans had been cancelled on Sunday because of Trump's expected visit, the office said.

Trump has yet to make an official announcement.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country will take part in efforts to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza.

"God willing, we as Turkey will take part in the mission force that will monitor the agreement's implementation in the field," he said in a speech.

He added that Turkey will contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza.

Turkey will take part in a joint task force alongside Israel, the US, Qatar and Egypt that will be established to locate the bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza whose locations are unknown, a senior Turkish official said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday welcomed the ceasefire deal.

"We welcome that Hamas-Israel talks, in which Türkiye contributed, resulted in Gaza ceasefire," he said, as quoted by TRT.

"Special thanks to Qatar and Egypt, and especially US President Trump, who demonstrated the necessary political will to encourage the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire," he said.

"We'll closely monitor implementation of agreement and continue our struggle until Palestinian state based on 1967 borders is established with East Jerusalem as its capital."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed the agreement reached to secure a ceasefire and the release of captives in Gaza, calling it a critical step toward easing the suffering of civilians.

"The United Nations stands ready to provide its full support. We and our partners are prepared to move now," Guterres said at UN headquarters in New York.

He urged all parties to ensure "full and sustained access for humanitarian aid,” stressing that the coming hours and days would be crucial for delivering food, medicine, and other essential supplies to those in need.

Guterres added that UN humanitarian teams are “on standby and ready to act immediately once conditions allow."

An Israeli government spokeswoman said that after the ceasefire and release of captives, the military will control and hold about 53 percent of Gaza.