The Latest: Israeli military says ceasefire in Gaza has taken effect

Audio By Carbonatix

Tens of thousands of Palestinians 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 troops were withdrawing to the agreed-upon deployment lines.

The announcement came after Palestinians reported heavy shelling Friday morning in northern Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early Friday that Israel’s Cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of all remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners. The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Sunday or Monday.

While the approval marks a key step toward ending a devastating two-year war, the broader ceasefire plan leaves many questions unanswered, including whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza.

Here's the latest:

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. 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.”

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.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the prize.

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.’’

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s top negotiator on the Gaza conflict, said the U.S. 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The Italian minister added that Israel is working to restore the crossing’s infrastructure as quickly as possible.

Crosetto also said about 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid will flow into Gaza from other crossings every day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is about to achieve one of its central goals in the two-year war — the return of the hostages.

“Hamas agreed to the deal only when it felt that the sword was on its neck — and it is still on its neck,” Netanyahu said on Friday. “Hamas agreed to the deal after Trump’s plan, which I agreed to with the President in Washington.”

“I promised the families of the hostages, and I also promised you, citizens of Israel, that we will return everyone, without exception. We promised and we are fulfilling it,” he said.

Under the ceasefire plan agreed with Hamas, all 48 hostages still in captivity are expected to be released. Israel believes around 20 of them are alive.

Netanyahu added that Israel would continue with its demilitarization of Hamas after the return of the hostages.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israeli troops are withdrawing to new positions in Gaza — a process already underway — and all 48 hostages still in captivity are expected to be released. Israel believes around 20 of them are alive.

In exchange, Israel will release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. A list of those prisoners published Friday by Israel did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian leader who has spend more than two decades imprisoned for deadly attacks.