Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza return north as ceasefire takes effect

PTI, Wadi Gaza (Gaza Strip), Oct 11, 2025 (AP) : Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were starting to walk north to return to their homes Friday, after the Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect at noon local time and that its soldiers were withdrawing to the agreed-upon deployment lines. Palestinians had reported heavy shelling Friday morning in northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said early Friday that his Cabinet approved US President Donald Trump's plan for a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas and of many Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Those releases are expected to begin Sunday or Monday.

Although the broader ceasefire plan leaves many questions unanswered, including whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza, the pause in fighting marks a key step toward ending the devastating two-year war and will allow more food, medicine and other aid into Gaza.

Hamas presses mediators after Israel refuses to free key Palestinian prisoners

A senior Hamas official said Friday that the group was in contact with mediators about several Palestinian leaders who Israel has refused to free under the U.S.-brokered deal, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.

“The movement (Hamas) is insisting on their release and negotiations are still ongoing,” Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV network.

He said Israel turned down several other proposed names. When asked if those included Abdullah Barghouti, Hassan Salama, Ibrahim Hamed and Abbas al-Sayyed, he replied, “Yes. These are the most prominent names that the occupation always rejects.”

Marwan Barghouti, 66, is widely popular and considered a potentially unifying Palestinian political figure. He's serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.

UN wants Israel to open more border crossings for aid into Gaza

As the UN prepares for resumption of aid to Gaza this weekend, officials said Friday that they need Israeli officials to open additional border crossings, provide safe movement for aid workers and civilians who are returning to parts of the strip that had just recently been under heavy firing.

Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesperson, told reporters that humanitarian partners have already begun to deploy an ambulance as well as fuel, medical items and other critical items through the Kareem Shalom crossing, where they also offloaded incoming supplies to replenish stocks. He added that the ceasefire announcement has “generated a new hope for relief at last.”

UN officials and Israeli authorities have been engaging in a series of discussions and negotiations in Jerusalem over the last 24 hours about the volume of aid humanitarians can bring in and through which entry points.

UN official says scaled-up aid deliveries to Gaza will begin Sunday

A UN official says Israel has given the green light for United Nations authorities to begin delivering aid into Gaza starting Sunday.

The official was granted anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The aid will include the 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in the pipeline in neighbouring countries like Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.

In recent months, the UN and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20% of the aid needed to address the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, according to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

Following the announcement Wednesday of a ceasefire deal, he said Thursday that all entry points to Gaza must be opened to deliver aid at “a much, much greater scale.”

France, UK and Germany praise Trump's leadership on ceasefire

In a joint statement Friday, the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. paid tribute to President Donald Trump's leadership on the ceasefire plan, the planned release of hostages and the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

They also praised the diplomatic efforts of the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

“It is now of utmost importance that all parties implement their obligations in full and without delay,” the statement said. The countries added that the UN Security Council should give its full backing to the plan and support its implementation.

Putin praises Trump for helping broker ceasefire plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised US President Donald Trump for helping broker a ceasefire deal for Gaza and said that Russia stands ready to help implement it.

Putin said that if the agreement is successfully implemented, it would mark a major achievement and a “historic event.”

He noted that Russia has close ties with the Palestinian authority and could help carry out the deal if asked.

“Bearing in mind the level of trust that exists between Russia and our Arab friends, and especially Palestinian friends, of course, I believe our participation could be in demand,” Putin told reporters on a trip to Tajikistan.

Putin noted that he decided to postpone a Russia-Arab summit in Moscow that had been scheduled for Oct. 15 in order “not to interfere with the process that has been initiated by President Trump.”

Netanyahu says Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, has tweeted that Trump “deserves it.”

“The Nobel Committee talks about peace. President @realDonaldTrump makes it happen. The facts speak for themselves. President #Trump deserves it,” he wrote on X on Friday.

Trump was passed over for the prestigious award on Friday despite jockeying from his fellow Republicans, various world leaders and — most vocally — himself.

Family of hostage believed dead hopes his body will be returned for burial

A relative of one of the Israeli hostages believed to have died in captivity says the family hopes his body will be returned for burial as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, even as the pain and disappointment of the past two years temper their optimism.

Stephen Brisley's brother, Yossi, is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024. His sister, Lianne Sharabi, and her two teenage daughters were killed when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“It's a measured sense of hope in all hostage families,'' Brisley told The Associated Press from his home in South Wales.

“It's a guarded optimism because it's the kind of optimism that's born out of heartbreaking experience. We hold our hope lightly because we've had our hopes dashed before,” he said. “It still feels like a long way between the announcement of the deal and actually getting Yossi's body back to bury him.''

Trump envoy says clock is ticking to hostage release

Steve Witkoff, Trump's top negotiator on the Gaza conflict, said the US military confirmed that Israeli soldiers have pulled back as part of the ceasefire agreement on Friday.

“The 72 hour period to release the hostages has begun,” Witkoff wrote on social media at 7 a.m. ET.

Turkey's Erdogan warns Israel against renewed violence in Gaza

Speaking at a rally in northern Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a return to conflict would “come at a very high cost.”

“We are well aware of Israel's poor track record when it comes to keeping its promises. They have broken their commitments using flimsy excuses and, unfortunately, betrayed the agreements they signed,” Erdogan told the crowd. “Returning to an environment of genocide would come at a very high cost.”

Turkey has frequently accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, an accusation Israel denies.

Erdogan stressed the importance of swiftly getting humanitarian aid to Gaza, adding that Turkish ships were docked at a port in Egypt, waiting to deliver aid.

Red Cross says hostage and prisoner release will be a huge challenge

In an interview with the AP, the International Committee of the Red Cross says the expected hostage and prisoner release will be more challenging than previous ones given the scale and speed of the operation.

Christian Cardon, chief spokesman for the ICRC, said Friday that while the group is expected to play a role as hostages are released from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel, it has not been given details in terms of when, how or where the releases would occur.

“Our colleagues are preparing themselves for all possible scenarios,” said Cardon.

He said that the terms of the deal, which call for the hostages to be released from Gaza within 72 hours, was an “extremely” tight time frame.

The ICRC was involved in prisoner and hostage releases in the two previous ceasefires during the war.

Palestinians who left Gaza will be able to go home, official says

Palestinians who previously left Gaza will be able to return for the first time, according to an Israeli security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Palestinians from Gaza who left the besieged Gaza Strip during the war or before the war started will be able to return to Gaza after undergoing security checks from Israel and Egypt. The official did not provide details on when Palestinians hoping to return to Gaza can begin to do so.

The measure is part of humanitarian policies that will be implemented as part of the ceasefire, the official said. Israel will revert to the same humanitarian measures that were in place during the previous ceasefire in January 2025, which include the entry of 600 trucks per day of humanitarian aid carrying food, medical supplies, shelter, cooking gas and fuel for essential services.

Italian police will resume patrolling Rafah border crossing next week

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Friday that Italian police will resume patrolling the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt next week, under the ceasefire plan agreed between Israel and Hamas.

“In compliance with the Trump agreement, the Rafah Crossing Point will be opened in two directions alternately, outbound to Egypt and inbound to Gaza, on Oct. 14, 2025,” Crosetto said in a statement to journalists in Rome. “This is a new step for Italy and Europe’s contribution to the peace process and humanitarian relief efforts.”