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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 9, 2025, 5:15 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 9, 2025, 9:34 AM EDTBy Alexander Smith and Freddie ClaytonPresident Donald Trump’s announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal was widely welcomed Thursday by world leaders, the families of hostages and Palestinians who have endured more than two years of war.But huge questions remain about whether Trump’s 20-point plan can successfully resolve the long-term future of the Gaza Strip, with uncertainty over its directive for Hamas to disband, as well as the governance of the shattered enclave.The plan, which was mediated by Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, will also need formal agreement at 5 p.m. local time Thursday (10 a.m. ET) by Israel’s government, an Israel official briefed on the matter told NBC News. That does not appear a sure thing, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowing to vote against it.A spokesperson for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a ceasefire would then take effect 24 hours after the Cabinet had agreed the deal and hostages would be released after 72 hours. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to President Donald Trump during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House on Wednesday.Anna Moneymaker / Getty ImagesTrump said in a social media post Wednesday that the sides had taken the “first steps toward a strong, durable, and everlasting peace,” calling it “a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding nations, and the United States of America.”Among those to welcome the announcement was United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who urged “all concerned to abide fully by the terms of the agreement” and described it as a “momentous opportunity” to recognize “the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.”Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “praised the great efforts made by President Trump and all mediators to reach this agreement.”Palestinians celebrate the news in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Thursday.AFP via Getty ImagesIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had “a very moving and warm conversation” with Trump in which they “congratulated each other on the historic achievement of signing the agreement to release all the hostages,” his office said in a statement.”If indeed this deal can hold, it’ll bring in an era of peace that we haven’t seen now in the Middle East for several years, ever since that terrible attack on Oct. 7,” Col. Steve Warren, former principal deputy chief of public affairs at the Pentagon, told NBC News on Wednesday.Celebrations and cautious optimismThe announcement came after indirect talks involving Israel, Hamas and Steve Witkoff, U.S. ambassador at large, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump announced the breakthrough one day after the second anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 were killed and another 250 were kidnapped, and the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in which more than 67,000 people — mostly women and children — have been killed, according to local health officials.While many governments defended Israel’s initial right to respond to the attack, the scale of civilian death and suffering wrought by its war have drawn increasing international condemnation and isolation for the Jewish state. Last month, the United Kingdom became the latest Western nation to recognize Palestine as a state, joining a majority of countries that now do so worldwide.What happens next in Israel-Hamas ceasefire process?01:58Much of Gaza is now a rubble-strewn wasteland, with most of its buildings damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N. And the world’s leading body on hunger, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has declared that a famine is now playing out inside the cramped territory.Israel’s military operation has been deemed a genocide by a U.N. commission of inquiry, the world-leading International Association of Genocide Scholars, and human rights groups such as Amnesty International. Israel denies the charge, saying it is only attempting to destroy Hamas, which it blames for putting Palestinians in harm’s way.After news arrived that the first ceasefire phase had been agreed to, some Palestinians on the ground inside Gaza were celebrating — cheering, dancing and singing, video showed.The first phase of Trump’s deal would see the return of the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive, while the Israeli military said it was poised to withdraw from Gaza to an agreed-upon line.There were celebrations in “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv early Thursday, the culmination of two years in which families and friends of the remaining captives have angrily campaigned for their government to prioritize their loved ones over the continuation of the conflict.Relatives of Israeli hostages celebrate in Tel Aviv after the announcement Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan.Emilio Morenatti / APThey could be heard in video chanting “Nobel prize to Trump” — a reference to Trump’s long-standing ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which is being announced Friday.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of Israeli hostages, said its members were feeling “a mix of excitement, anticipation, and concern” at the news. It expressed its “profound gratitude to President Trump and his team for the leadership and determination that led to this historic breakthrough: an end to the war and a comprehensive agreement to return all the hostages.”Ruby Chen, father of hostage Itay Chen, a U.S.-Israeli dual citizen, said on “Stay Tuned NOW” that while he shared this cautious hope, the captors had not “provided any sign of life” for his son.Lasting agreement unclearWhile Hamas has agreed to participate in the hostage and prisoner exchange, it has not said it will disarm and disband — a key stipulation of Trump’s proposal. The first phase also does not address Gaza’s medium- and long-term future. Trump’s plan says the enclave should be temporarily governed by a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” overseen by a “Board of Peace” led by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. That is until the Palestinian Authority, the chief political organ in the region, can be “reformed.”The Israel Defense Forces said it was moving to “adjusted deployment lines soon” but warned that parts of Gaza were “still considered a dangerous combat zone” and that its troops were “deployed and operating anywhere in the Strip.”Israel shattered the previous ceasefire — which lasted from Jan. 19 to March 18 — by launching a barrage of deadly airstrikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, ending two months of relative calm and plunging Gaza into a renewed humanitarian crisis. Israel blamed Hamas for the resumption of hostilities, citing the militant group’s refusal to meet Israel’s demand to release more hostages.Alexander SmithAlexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.Freddie ClaytonFreddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London. 

- Latest News - October 9, 2025

The previous ceasefire lasted from Jan. 19 to March 18, when Israel resumed military operations in Gaza.

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Trump holds Cabinet meeting

- Latest News - October 9, 2025

Watch live coverage as President Trump holds a meeting with his Cabinet amid the ongoing government shutdown and possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 9, 2025, 11:35 AM EDTBy Megan LebowitzWASHINGTON — A C-SPAN caller made an emotional plea to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday to end the government shutdown, saying that “my kids could die” if she can’t afford their medication.The woman, identified as Samantha from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, expressed concerns over what would happen to her family if military service members do not get paid next week. The caller, who was also identified as a Republican, said that she has “two medically fragile children” and that her husband “actively serves his country” and had spent two military tours in Afghanistan.She brought up comments Johnson made Wednesday when asked if he would allow a vote on a bill to provide military members with emergency pay if the shutdown continues. Johnson told reporters that Democrats were “clamoring to get back here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and say they’re for paying the troops. We already had that vote. It’s called the CR,” referring to the short-term funding bill that the House passed but Democrats do not support.“If we see a lapse in pay come the 15th, my children do not get to get the medication that’s needed for them to live their life, because we live paycheck to paycheck,” Samantha told Johnson.The exchange occurred as Johnson was taking questions live from C-SPAN viewers who called in to the network Thursday morning. According to C-SPAN communications director Howard Mortman, Johnson is the fourth sitting speaker to join the network in studio and take questions from callers, and the first since 2001.Active-duty military members had been scheduled to be paid on Oct. 15, but if the shutdown continues, they will not receive payments for October work.Samantha said that she was “very disappointed in my party, and I’m very disappointed in you.” She pointed out that Johnson had the power to call the House back into session. The House is set to return on Oct. 14.“I am begging you to pass this legislation,” she said. “My kids could die.”NBC News reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.Johnson told Samantha he was “angry because of situations just like yours.” He noted that his congressional district is home to many military families, including families who “have children in health situations like yours.”“This is what keeps me up at night,” he said. “I want you to hear something very clearly: The Republicans are the ones delivering for you.”Johnson continued, casting blame on Democrats for not voting for the GOP-backed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government and provide short-term funding at the same levels as before the shutdown began. Democrats have been pushing Republicans to address health care issues first, noting that Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, which would increase the cost of health care.“The Democrats are the ones that are preventing you from getting a check. If we did another, a vote on the floor, pay troops, it’s not a lawmaking exercise, because [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer is going to hold that up in the Senate,” Johnson said.The Senate has failed six times, largely on party lines, to pass two funding bills, the House-passed GOP bill and one from Senate Democrats.Reached for comment, Schumer’s office referred NBC News to remarks the New York Democrat made on the Senate floor on Thursday.He said: “Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans and the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them each day, our case to fix health care and end the shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger, because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way, they’re seeing why this fight matters. It’s about protecting their health care, their bank accounts, their futures.”Johnson detailed the C-SPAN conversation later Thursday morning during a press briefing, pointing to the shutdown’s impact on military families.“Many are deployed right now, defending your freedom around the world,” he said. “And they left their young families at home. They live paycheck to paycheck. Many of these, these service members, and this is not a game.”Megan LebowitzMegan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.Kyle Stewart and Rebecca Shabad contributed.

- Latest News - October 9, 2025

WASHINGTON — A C-SPAN caller made an emotional plea to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday to end the government shutdown, saying that “my kids could die” if she.

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