Guterres calls on all parties to fully adhere to the Gaza agreement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement announced by US President Donald Trump that Israel and Hamas have reached to implement the first phase of the peace plan for Gaza, calling on all parties involved to "fully commit to its terms."

Guterres praised in a statement the diplomatic efforts made by the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey in mediating "to achieve this much-needed accomplishment."

He urged all parties involved to seize this historic opportunity to establish a reliable political path towards ending the Israeli occupation and recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, "and achieving a two-state solution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. The risks have never been this grave."

He affirmed that the United Nations will support the full implementation of the agreement and will expand the scope of relief and enhance recovery and reconstruction efforts in the devastated Gaza.

The UN Secretary-General also emphasized the necessity of ensuring the immediate and unhindered entry of humanitarian supplies and essential commercial goods into Gaza.

Guterres stressed the need to release all detainees in what he described as a dignified manner and to ensure a permanent ceasefire and an end to the fighting and suffering.

The announcement of the agreement comes after President Donald Trump stated that both Hamas and Israel agreed to his peace plan.

He said in a post on Truth Social early Thursday that Israel would withdraw its forces to an agreed line as initial steps towards a strong and lasting peace.

He added that this means "all hostages will be released very soon."

Trump considered this announcement "a great day for the Arab and Islamic world, Israel, and the United States," and thanked the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also announced in a statement that an agreement had been reached to cease the war on the Gaza Strip, withdraw Israeli occupation forces from the entire area, allow humanitarian aid, and implement a prisoner exchange process between Israel and the resistance factions.

The movement called in its statement on President Trump and the guarantor countries of the agreement to compel the occupation government to implement all terms of the agreement and not allow it to evade or procrastinate in applying the understandings reached, and urged Arab, Islamic, and international parties to support this path.

For his part, the spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majid Al-Ansari, stated that the mediators announced reaching an agreement on all terms for implementing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, noting that the agreement would lead to ending the war and releasing the Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners.

On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he would hold a government meeting today, Thursday, to approve the announced agreement, which would end the war in Gaza and return all detainees.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office stated that Netanyahu had a conversation with the US President following the announcement of the agreement to end the war in Gaza.

It added that Netanyahu invited Trump to deliver a speech in the Knesset.

Since last Monday evening, Sharm El-Sheikh has been hosting indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel regarding the implementation of Trump's plan to end the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

On September 29, Trump announced a 20-point plan, including "the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, a ceasefire, and the disarmament of Hamas."

Hamas had agreed to previous proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza, resorted to procrastination and continued the genocide in the Palestinian territory.

Israel estimates that there are 48 Israeli captives held in Gaza, of whom 20 are alive, while around 11,100 Palestinians are imprisoned in its jails suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with US support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, resulting in 67,173 martyrs and 169,780 injured—most of them children and women—and a famine that has claimed the lives of 460 Palestinians, including 154 children.