Israel and Hamas have signed a ceasefire agreement that was supposed to come into effect at noon local time on October 10 following the Israeli government’s ratification of the deal, but Israeli attacks were reported to have continued east of Gaza City and north of Khan Younis after the ceasefire deadline.

Thousands of displaced Palestinians are on their way north, but Gaza Civil Defence warned Gazans not to approach or return to areas where occupation forces were present, especially the border areas of Gaza City, “until an official announcement is made regarding the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces and this is confirmed through the relevant authorities”.

While there is relief and hope in Gaza, the celebration is tempered with caution and continuing grief.

Journalist Motasem A. Dalloul reported the death of a third son, Ibraheem, in an Israeli airstrike. He has already been enduring the death of his wife. Dalloul shared images on X about the devastating destruction of homes and civil infrastructure in Gaza.

The prize-winning poet Mosab Abu Toha reported about several Israeli assaults on Thursday. He said Israel bombed the Ghaboun family house in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City and forty people were under the rubble.

In an update on Friday he said that there had been more than fifty people in the Ghaboun family house. Four people were killed, he said, seven were wounded and taken to hospital, and the others remained buried under the rubble.

Abu Toha also reported that Israeli tanks and gunboats were opening fire on people on al-Rashid Street who were trying to return from southern Gaza to their homes in Gaza City.

He told Sky News on Thursday that Palestinians, himself included, were being cautious, not only because the new agreement was not a real peace plan, but because of Israel’s systematic violation of previous ceasefires.

The agreement would not bring back anything to the Palestinians – the loved-ones they had lost, the homes that they lost, or the schools their children used to attend, Abu Toha said. The only positive thing was that there was a pause in the bloodshed.

Abu Toha said on social media on Thursday: “Imagine calling it a ‘peace plan’ when it has no clear timeline? How do I explain that to my family, to my friends, to the victims of crimes against humanity in Gaza? How do we explain to future generations that the world chose to stop a genocide in phases, not unconditionally, not immediately?

“How could we live through a genocide that’s been livestreamed to the world? For me, I was its victim, its witness, and its unwilling chronicler.”

On Friday, Abu Toha said that, so far, the bodies of more than 81 people had been recovered from the streets following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza. Many more bodies of those still buried beneath the rubble of their homes were expected to be found in the coming hours, days, and weeks, he said.

The co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, Hani Almadhoun, wrote in a post on Facebook: “I called my mom today – like I do every day – but today felt different. More hope in her voice. More tears too.”

Almadhoun’s mother told him: “I just want one night of sleep without explosions. No drones. No bombs. No shaking walls. No staring at the roof wondering which side will collapse on me while I sleep.”

Almadhoun told an interviewer on CNN: “I think this is the first time that you and I talk and I feel I want to wake up in a new day. I feel like there is no longer a dark cloud over my heart.”

He said on the Dean Obeidallah show: “A lot of people are excited, and I want to encourage our allies and our friends who might be looking for the perfect deal, it’s unfortunately not coming, and if you do not like this deal, please give the Palestinians a little bit of a glimmer of hope. They need it. They deserve it.”

In an extremely moving post on Facebook, Palestinian-Christian-American Suhair Nafal wrote:

“Twice they were forced out. Twice they were driven from their homes in the North … And yet… look at them now.

With the ceasefire, tens of thousands of Palestinians are marching back north – not to safety, not to comfort, not to intact homes – but to rubble, ashes, and the stench of death.

They are not returning because life has been restored.

They are returning because even ruins are still theirs.

This is what steadfastness looks like.

A people who have nothing left – yet still refuse to surrender.

Palestine does not die.

It walks back home.”

Image courtesy of Middle East Eye.

Videographer Ahmed Younis posted on Facebook on Friday that, after the announcement of the ceasefire, young Palestinians took to the beach, raising the national flag as a symbol of resilience and hope.

“Despite the destruction, smiles returned – a scene that captures Gaza’s enduring spirit of life after days of hardship,” he wrote.

Photo by Ahmed Younis. October 10, 2025.

Younis also posted: “I’m still alive, but so many things have changed for me. First, my appearance, my weight, and the structure of my body have all changed. Second, the places have changed too – all the beautiful streets we used to know and visit have been destroyed.

“The war has ended, but the feeling of disappointment inside us hasn’t. I’m exhausted after a battle that lasted two years. Every moment, I was waiting for death – waiting for a missile to come and take my life.”

Younis wrote about a new life beginning. A new inner struggle had started, he said.

“I don’t know what to do, or what I’m supposed to create next. Should I keep going, or take a long rest after everything I’ve been through? Should I continue, or fall into a deep sleep from all this exhaustion? he wrote.

“I don’t know, but I’m Ahmad, and I feel that I can finish everything I once started. I’m still alive – and that alone is enough to begin again.”

Israeli pposition to the agreement

Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir (the Minister of National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance Minister) voted against the ceasefire deal, but have not resigned from the government.

Ben-Gvir tweeted in the early hours of October 10 that, alongside joy at the expected return of Israeli hostages, was the “unbearably heavy price” of what he termed “the release of thousands of terrorists, including 250 murderers who are expected to be freed from prisons”.

He said: “ … we do not forget the central goal of the war that was defined at its outset: to ensure that this disaster cannot recur – through the dismantling of Hamas rule.”

Ben-Givr insisted: “In conversations that took place between me and the prime minister in recent days, I clarified that under no circumstances will I be part of a government that allows the continued existence of Hamas rule in Gaza. This is a glaring red line.”

If Hamas rule was not dismantled, “or if they just tell us that it has been dismantled while in practice it continues to exist under another guise”, Jewish power would dismantle the government, Ben-Givr said.

Smotrich said on X: “Immediately after the hostages return home, the State of Israel will continue to strive with all its might for the true eradication of Hamas and the genuine disarmament of Gaza, so that it no longer poses threat to Israel.”

He also tweeted: “ … we cannot join the short-sighted celebrations and vote in favor of the deal. A tremendous responsibility to ensure that this is not, God forbid, a deal of ‘hostages in exchange for stopping the war,’ as Hamas thinks and boasts …”.

Smotrich said there was an “enormous obligation to ensure that we do not return to the Oslo track, God forbid, and do not entrust our security to foreigners”.

It was also imperative, he said, “to ensure that we do not revert to the misconceptions of October 6th and become addicted again to artificial calm, diplomatic embraces, and smiling ceremonies, while mortgaging the future and paying horrific prices”.

In addition to Smotrich and Ben-Givr, ministers Orit Strock, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amichai Eliyahu also voted against the ceasefire agreement.

‘Israel needs to be demilitarised and deradicalised’

American journalist, television presenter, and activist Abby Martin did not mince words in her comments about the agreement.

“Of course I welcome an end to the unrelenting slaughter and bloodletting … Of course, I welcome the cessation of massacres,” she said.

“The bare minimum demand for the last two years has been a ceasefire … I think it’s a big gamble by Hamas …this entire negotiation is basically putting (Palestinians) the barrel of a gun to their head and saying ‘Subject surrender or die’.”

Martin added, however: “They’re talking about putting in a technocratic governing body by the likes of Tony Blair. This is basically cementing the subjugation of Palestinians. I think the most cartoonish thing of all is the demand for full demilitarisation of Hamas and other armed factions.

“Basically what that is saying is that the precursor and justification for genocide is the notion of armed resistance, which is a legally enshrined right in international law. That is not a justification or precursor for genocide.

“What reality are we living in that the victims of a genocide are being asked to make concessions to the people committing genocide against them.”

The state that needed to be demilitarised and deradicalised was the one committing genocide, Martin said.

The agreement

The document detailing the implementation of President Donald Trump’s ‘Comprehensive End of Gaza War’ proposal, as agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, was revealed on Thursday night just before the Israeli government finally ratified the deal in the early hours of October 10.

Implementation steps

1. President Trump announces the end to the war in the Gaza strip, and that the parties have agreed to implement the necessary steps to that end.

2. The war will immediately end upon the approval of the Israeli government. All military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment and targeting operations will be suspended. During the 72 hour period, acrial surveillance will be suspended over the areas which IDF forces have withdrawn from.

3. Immediate commencement of full entry of humanitarian aid and relief as determined in the Proposal, and at a minimum in consistence with the 19 January 2025 agreement regarding humanitarian aid. Humanitarian aid and relief implementation steps are attached herewith.

4. IDF will withdraw to lines agreed upon as per map X attached herewith, and this will be completed after President Trump’s announcement and within 24 hours of Israeli government approval. The IDF will not return to areas that have been withdrawn from, as long as Hamas fully implements the agreement.

5. Within 72 hours of the withdrawal of Israeli forces, all Israeli hostages, living and deceased, held in Gaza will be released.

a. As soon as IDF completes the withdrawal, Hamas will commence investigating the status of the hostages and collect all information pertaining to them. Hamas will provide feedback and on its findings through the information-sharing mechanism under 5.e below. Israel will provide information on the Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza strip held in Israel.

b. Within the 72 hours, Hamas will release all living hostages including those held by the Palestinian factions in Gaza.

c. Within the 72 hours, Hamas will release the remains of the deceased hostages in its possession and those in the possession of the Palestinian factions in Gaza.

d. Hamas will share, within the 72 hours, all the information it obtained relating to any remaining deceased hostages through the information- sharing mechanism in paragraph (e) below. Israel will provide information on the remains of the deceased Gazans held by Israel.

e. Establishment of an information-sharing mechanism between the two sides through the mediators and the ICRC, to exchange information and intelligence on any remaining deceased hostages that were not retrieved within the 72 hours or remains of Gazans held by Israel. The mechanism shall ensure that the remains of all the hostages are fully and safely exhumed and released. Hamas shall exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfilment of these commitments as soon as possible.

f. As Hamas release all the hostages, Israeli will release in parallel the corresponding number of Palestinian prisoners as per the attached lists.

g. The exchange of hostages and prisoners will be done according to the mechanism agreed upon through the mediators and through the ICRC without any public ceremonies or media coverage.

6. A task force will be formed of representatives from the United States, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and other countries to be agreed upon by the parties, to follow-up on the implementation with the two sides and coordinate with them.

Israeli forces will remain present in about 58% of the Gaza Strip. Its troops will withdraw to a specified yellow line.

Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera.

Relief and scepticism

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, tweeted on October 10: “Sincere relief for those allowed to return home after years, or months, of agony, and for the ceasefire. But how to welcome a plan that erases Palestinian self-determination? Global solidarity must continue and focus on ending crimes and COMPLICITY. My next report is about this.”

“What’s going to happen to the West Bank?”, Albanese asks. “Why does the fragmentation continue?”

Speaking on Sky News about Israel wanting to “demilitarise and deradicalise Gaza, she said: “Where is the security of the Palestinians who have been attacked without respite for decades, much before, much earlier than October 7, which was a horrific day and horrific crimes were committed? Where is the demilitarisation and the deradicalisation of Israel’s society?”

Palestinian political analyst, writer, and human rights advocate Muhammad Shehada told the ‘Democracy Now’ news outlet on October 9 that there was an earlier draft of the deal that was somewhat reasonable.

“Then Netanyahu spent six hours with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and manipulated it out of any meaning or substance and added to it this colonial aspect of the Trump-Blair Board of Peace,” Shehada said.

Hamas, he added, was advised by Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt to deliver a careful response.

“It was a clever way of … saying yes to the parts that are actually doable, and the parts that were so incredibly fantastical, to leave them at a later point that hopefully will never come.”

Shehada spoke about how the Palestinians in Gaza he had been talking to were reacting to the announcement of a ceasefire.

“They don’t feel anything positive about the declaration until they see it materialise,” he said. Palestinians knew there were many devils in the details and that Israel had a vested interest in sabotaging the deal.

Israel had even intensified its bombing that morning, Shehada said. “It’s like they are in a rush, in a hurry, to kill as many people as possible and destroy much of the urban space as much as possible. They’ve been detonating those robotic suicide vehicles since yesterday. They’ve been bombing Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, Gaza City, Al-Sabra, Tel al-Hawa, Al-Shati camp.”

There were Palestinians in Gaza who were exhausted and desperate for any glimmer of hope Shehada added.

“I was just talking to a cousin in his late 40s in Gaza City last week, and he looked exactly like my grandfather when he died when he was over 100 years old. He was skin and bone. You can literally see his eyes are sunken, his face is wrinkled and darkened. And those people are desperate for the slightest glimmer of hope. So, hopefully, they will get some good news soon,” he told ‘Democracy Now’.

Dutch-Palestinian Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani, who is a non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now and the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told the ‘Democracy Now’ news outlet that Qatar and the United States had guaranteed that hostilities would not resume.

“I think those are relatively worthless commitments, because, with Trump, you can’t trust a word he says about anything, and Qatar is, of course, not in a position to compel this,” Rabbani said.

“While it’s very welcome, of course, that the genocide may be coming to an end and is at least now paused, this is a renewed Oslo process with an even lower political ceiling.”

Rabbani said the key issue now was that there was massive global momentum for a different paradigm, “in which Palestinian rights, in which Israeli accountability for its actions replaces these meaningless, endless negotiations about nothing that result in nothing”.

Maintaining and intensifying the momentum was absolutely essential “to ensure that the genocide does not resume in full force, that ethnic cleansing remains off the agenda, and that the real political issues can finally be addressed in line with international law and Palestinian rights”, Rabbani said.

Rabbani added: “… this is an agreement. It’s not a peace agreement. It’s a ceasefire agreement, and a partial one. And, given Israel’s previous conduct, and even more importantly, US indulgence for Israel’s conduct, the indulgence of the West as a whole, this is a situation where Israel, should it so choose – and it will so choose, I suspect – will find a method to abrogate this agreement and ensure it is only of a temporary nature.”

Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg told ‘Democracy Now’ that the only issue that mattered to the Israeli Jewish public at large was the fate of the hostages.

“They absolutely don’t care, in any way, shape or form, about the suffering or the plight of the Palestinians,” he said. “And even the fate of the hostages is more a myth than it is a pressing national security issue.”

There were Israelis, especially religious ones, who celebrated overtly the killing of Palestinians, Goldberg said.

“And they, of course, are disappointed,” he added. “They wanted a total victory. They wanted Hamas destroyed. But the great majority of Israelis enable the genocide and support the genocide by not talking about the genocide.”

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were less powerful than they might appear from the outside, Goldberg said.

“Both would be lost without their membership in Netanyahu’s government … They are not leaders meant for the opposition. They are meant for power, and they know it. And they will find excuses. Perhaps Smotrich will leave, but it’s more likely that they will explain to their base that it’s better that they’re on the inside to prevent even worse decisions from being made,” he added.

Asked whether Israel would abide by the new agreement, and if so, to what extent, Goldberg said: “Scepticism is well founded. If I was a Palestinian, I wouldn’t trust an official Israeli farther than I could throw him.”

He added, however, that Israel’s international stature and “absolute impunity” had taken real hits and Israel was not as strong as it was even two months ago. The great majority of Israeli Jews supported its government’s policies in Gaza and this was not something that could be wished away. It was still true.

Goldberg said he was cautiously optimistic about the potential of the new deal.

“None of the major players here care about the Palestinians, except for the people who represent the Palestinians … Everybody has something to gain from this deal that has to do with their political future, their political survival. And at this time, after two years, when the world ignored the Israeli genocide, perhaps the only thing that can start a process in motion is when the stars align and political interests converge,” he said.

‘Netanyahu has been buying time’

In an interview with Owen Jones, aired on October 9, Muhammad Shehada said that, when Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement in January 2025, it was the same deal that had been on the table since December 2023. (The ceasefire was broken by Israel in March 2025.)

“We know that on the second day of the genocide, on October 8^th/October 9^th, Hamas delivered a message to Israel through mediators that it was ready to release all Israeli captives immediately, unconditionally, given that Israel would not launch a genocide inside Gaza; that it would suspend its invasion, its military operations and bombing,” Shehada said.

“And then Hamas, by December, they told the mediators that they are committed to stepping down from ruling Gaza once and for all, that they would have zero role whatsoever to play in government.”

Shehada said that Netanyahu, throughout the entire genocide, had been using “the façade of negotiations” to buy time for the genocide, with the full knowledge and complicity of his partners, whether Joe Biden or now Trump.

‘Solidarity still needed’

The British MP Jeremy Corbyn, who organised an independent Gaza Tribunal in London, issued a statement on Thursday in which he said: “We rejoice in the sight of children celebrating in Gaza, but we mourn for the children whose laughter we will never hear.

“This genocide could not have been possible without the political and military support of governments across the world, including our own. In the coming months, we will learn of the true scale of death and destruction. We will uncover the full scale of our government’s complicity. And we will bring about justice for the Palestinian people.

“A ceasefire is just the beginning; our struggle against apartheid and ethnic cleansing goes on. It is up to the people of Palestine to determine their own future, and we must continue to campaign for the only path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.”

The announcement of a ceasefire would bring immense relief to survivors of the genocide and to those who had been held captive in Israel and Gaza, Corbyn said.

“This must mark the beginning of the full withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces, and an end to Israeli’s illegal siege starving Palestinians to death,” he added.

A statement by 32 Palestinian civil society organisations was published on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement website in which the signatories stated: “In response to the illegal, colonial Israeli-US ‘Trump plan’, Palestinian civil society insists on full Palestinian rights and calls for escalating BDS pressure to end all state, corporate and institutional complicity with Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation, apartheid, and genocide.”

The organisations said that even if a ceasefire was reached, “the genocide, the famine, the repercussions of the annihilation of Gaza” would not end. Solidarity was more needed than ever, and it began with ending complicity.

“Together, we can and must disrupt all complicity in Israel’s ‘final solution’ for the Indigenous people of Palestine. Together we can dismantle Israeli apartheid just as South African apartheid was dismantled. Anything less would be a failure of humanity,” the organisations said.

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