Netanyahu praises Trump over hostage release and ceasefire plan

Benjamin Netanyahu praised Donald Trump and the Israeli military after Israel’s cabinet met on Thursday (9 October) and confirmed it had approved a hostage release plan around 23:30pm BST. A ceasefire was supposed to start immediately, giving the military 24 hours to complete its withdrawal. The Israeli military said a ceasefire in the war in Gaza came into effect at midday local time (10am BST) on Friday, giving Hamas 72 hours to release the hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave. On Thursday, the Israeli prime minister said, "We couldn't have achieved [this] without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with Ron [Dermer] and his team... the courage of our soldiers to enter Gaza and combine military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas, I think has brought us to this point."