Hamas-Israel deal live updates: Ceasefire agreement goes into effect in Gaza, IDF says CEASEFIRE DEAL: A ceasefire in Gaza went into effect at 12 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), the Israeli military said, after its government approved the first phase of a deal to bring the war to an end.

Last month, President Donald Trump proposed a 20-point plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip ahead of this week's negotiations in Egypt.

Israeli forces have completed a pullback of troops from Gaza on Friday after Israel's Cabinet approved a plan for a ceasefire aimed at ending the devastating two-year war.

President Donald Trump had to maintain the trust of Israel and a series of Arab- and Muslim-majority nations. His ability to walk that tightrope was tested repeatedly.

International Committee of the Red Cross teams in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank "will support," the implementation of the ceasefire agreement "by helping to return hostages and detainees to their families," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement on Friday.

Israel and Hamas have signed a cease-fire agreement to free the remaining hostages in Gaza. Mediators hope that the deal will finally bring an end to two nightmarish years of war that have killed tens of thousands and laid waste to the Gaza Strip.

As a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas begins to take hold in Gaza, members of Manitoba's Palestinian community are hopeful that displaced families can be reunited with loved ones who fled to Canada to escape the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn strip.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their Gaza neighborhoods Saturday, weaving through dust-shrouded streets as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of war and a ceasefire held in its second day.