JERUSALEM — Israel’s government approved a deal that will see Hamas release any remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for more than 2,000 prisoners, another major step toward fulfilling the terms of a peace agreement and ending the two sides’ bloody conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a post on X that the government had approved the framework that would see all hostages released, including the remains of the deceased.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner attended the meeting along with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a move that partly appeared meant to ensure that any holdouts wouldn’t upend Netanyahu’s plan to get signoff for the deal. The move clears the way for the hostages to be freed in the next three days.

In video remarks from the meeting, Netanyahu said he wanted to “personally thank” both of them.

“We’re at a momentous development in the last two years,” Netanyahu said. “We fought during these two years to achieve our war aims and a central one of our war aims was to achieve our hostages, all of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we’re about to achieve that.”

The move was largely expected but served as a capstone on the first phase of the deal after Hamas’s chief negotiator announced earlier in the day that the Iran-backed group had agreed to end the war, which has devastated Gaza, left tens of thousands dead and destabilized the Middle East.

Trump, whose 20-point plan formed the basis for the agreement, said Thursday he’ll travel to Israel to be on hand for the release of hostages. Hamas is set to return all of the remaining 48 hostages held in Gaza — 20 of whom are believed to be alive. In return, Israel is due to release almost 2,000 jailed Palestinians and allow a ramp up of aid to Gaza through United Nations agencies and other international bodies.

Challenges remain. Two senior U.S. officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity on Thursday night, said there were two phases to the deal — the hostage release and then what they called “almost a permanent ceasefire” where other issues would be worked out such as decommissioning weapons, standing up Gaza’s new government and the redeployment of Israeli forces.

The officials acknowledged that there are a lot of ways the deal could go wrong but that Trump hoped to restore momentum for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, signed in his first term, that saw some countries normalize ties with Israel.

They said the hostages would be released in 72 hours after Israel withdraws, and that the U.S. Central Command would help set up a joint task force while an international stabilization force is established.

Even as Israelis and Palestinians celebrated the deal, there were concerns about whether it will stick. Earlier Thursday, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV a ceasefire was in effect. But Israeli forces also said military units struck a Hamas cell in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas said at least four people were killed and called on mediators “and the U.S. administration to assume their responsibilities regarding these brutal crimes, to condemn them, and to intervene immediately to compel the occupation to stop targeting innocent children and unarmed civilians.”

If the ceasefire holds, Israeli forces will enact a phased withdrawal from Gaza’s city centers until they reach a buffer zone just within the Palestinian enclave’s border. Netanyahu said he had a “very emotional and warm conversation” with Trump in which they congratulated each other on the “historic achievement.”

Hamas triggered the war with an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting another 250. More than 67,000 Gazans have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Some 450 Israeli troops have died in combat in Gaza. A panel supported by the U.N. said Israel was committing genocide, something Netanyahu’s government denies.

The conflict has had ramifications far beyond Gaza, with Israel attacking Iran-backed militias in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Qatar. It also fought a 12-day aerial war against Iran in June, which saw the U.S. strike the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to allow a ramp-up of aid to the war-battered Palestinian enclave, where a humanitarian crisis led a United Nations-backed monitor to declare a famine in parts of the territory.

“We and our partners are prepared to move – now,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. “We have the expertise, the distribution networks, and community relationships in place to act.”

Crowds gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv — a focal point for Israeli demonstrators calling for their release — to celebrate. There were also celebrations in Gaza, including in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, according to witnesses.

Photos from Egypt showed Israeli and Qatari negotiators embracing each other, something that would have previously been unthinkable given the tensions between the countries. Less than a month ago, Israel outraged Qatar by trying to assassinate a leading Hamas official with a missile strike on a residential compound in Doha.

The talks in Sharm El-Sheikh are likely to continue over outstanding issues, including the reconstruction and future governance of Gaza. Trump and Netanyahu have demanded that Hamas disarm and have no part in governing the territory. The group, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., European Union and others, is yet to formally agree to that.

Still, a spokesperson signaled to al-Jazeera on Thursday that it is willing to do so.

“Hamas will not be part of the governance of Gaza, and we have shown all necessary flexibility in this regard,” he told the Qatari broadcaster on Thursday. “We are discussing approaches with the mediators to reach a ceasefire, but not on the basis of surrendering weapons.”

International leaders, including from Germany and the U.K., welcomed the breakthrough. Many have denounced Israel’s campaign in Gaza and in some cases moved to recognize a Palestinian state in response. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu over the conflict, said the “agreement must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution.”

(Fadwa Hodali and Eliyahu Kamisher contributed.)

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