Politics
Pakistan, global leaders react to agreement on first phase of Trump’s Gaza deal
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under his plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.
The breakthrough, described as a critical step towards halting one of the region’s deadliest conflicts in recent history, follows months of indirect negotiations and mounting international pressure on both sides to reach a resolution.
The announcement prompted a wave of reactions from global leaders, many of whom welcomed the development while urging both sides to honour their commitments under the deal.
‘GREAT day’
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.
“All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
‘Historic opportunity’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement as “a historic opportunity to secure lasting peace in the Middle East.”
In a post on X, he praised President Donald Trump’s “unwavering commitment to world peace” throughout the negotiation process, as well as the “resolute and wise leadership” of Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye for their tireless mediation efforts.
PM Shehbaz paid tribute to the “unprecedented suffering” of the Palestinian people, saying their ordeal must “never, ever be repeated.”
He also condemned “recent provocations at Masjid Al Aqsa,” urging the international community to hold “occupiers and illegal settlers to account” and prevent actions that could jeopardise the progress made toward peace.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to work with “partners, friends and brotherly nations” to ensure peace, security, and dignity for the Palestinian people in line with their aspirations and relevant UN resolutions.
‘Big day for Israel’
“A big day for Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“Tomorrow I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all our dear hostages home. I thank the heroic IDF soldiers and all the security forces — thanks to their courage and sacrifice, we have reached this day.
“I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for their dedication to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.
“With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and expand peace with our neighbours.”
‘Never abandoning our people’s rights until freedom’
“We highly appreciate the efforts of our brothers and mediators in Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, and we also value the efforts of US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war completely and achieving a full withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We call on President Trump, the guarantor states of the agreement, and all Arab, Islamic, and international parties to compel the occupation government to fully implement its obligations under the agreement and to prevent it from evading or delaying the implementation of what has been agreed upon.
“We salute our great people in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and throughout our homeland and the diaspora, who have demonstrated unparalleled honour, courage, and heroism — confronting the fascist occupation projects that targeted them and their national rights. These sacrifices and steadfast positions have thwarted the Israeli occupation’s schemes of subjugation and displacement.
“We affirm that the sacrifices of our people will not be in vain, and that we will remain true to our pledge — never abandoning our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved.”
‘Permanent political solution’
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas hailed a Gaza ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Hamas on Thursday, saying he hoped it could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
In a statement on social media, Abbas “welcomed the announcement by US President Donald Trump of an agreement to cease the war on the Gaza Strip,” and “expressed hope that these efforts would be a prelude to reaching a permanent political solution… leading to an end to the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state”.
‘Permanent ceasefire must be secured’
“I welcome the announcement of an agreement to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, based on the proposal put forward by President Donald J Trump. I commend the diplomatic efforts of the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in brokering this desperately needed breakthrough,” Guterres said in a statement.
“I urge all concerned to abide fully by the terms of the agreement. All hostages must be released in a dignified manner. A permanent ceasefire must be secured. The fighting must stop once and for all. Immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian supplies and essential commercial materials into Gaza must be ensured. The suffering must end.
“The United Nations will support the full implementation of the agreement and will scale up the delivery of sustained and principled humanitarian relief, and we will advance recovery and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
“I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognising the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.
“The stakes have never been higher.”
‘Permanent and comprehensive’
China said on Thursday that it hoped for a “permanent and comprehensive” ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel and Hamas agreed a deal to free the remaining living hostages in the territory.
“China hopes to achieve a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, effectively alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and ease regional tensions,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference.
“China advocates adhering to the principle that ‘Palestinians should govern Palestine,'” Guo said.
‘Greatly pleased’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed satisfaction Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza and thanked Donald Trump´s efforts to end the war.
“I am greatly pleased that the Hamas-Israel talks… have resulted in a ceasefire in Gaza, I especially thank US President, Mr Trump, who demonstrated the necessary political will to encourage the Israeli government toward the ceasefire,” Erdogan said on his official X account.
Turkey, which has been closely involved in the negotiations and sent a team to the talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, would “closely monitor the strict implementation of the agreement”, he added.
The agreement, which will be signed in Egypt on Thursday, involves freeing the remaining hostages and is a major step towards ending the two-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe.
‘Moment of profound relief’
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday hailed the new Gaza ceasefire deal as “a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world”.
“I am grateful for the tireless diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the United States, supported by our regional partners, in securing this crucial first step,” he said in a statement.
“This agreement must now be implemented in full, without delay, and accompanied by the immediate lifting of all restrictions on life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
‘Essential first step’
“Hamas needs to release all of the hostages and Israel must withdraw their troops to the agreed-upon line,” Peters said in a statement.
“This is an essential first step towards achieving lasting peace. We urge Israel and Hamas to continue working towards a complete resolution.”
Israel and Hamas agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of US President Trump’s plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East.
The agreement, to be signed later Thursday, also calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza — more than two years after the conflict began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel.
The announcement came a day after the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 67,183 Palestinians, figures the United Nations considers credible. The data show that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported bombardment continuing in the hours before the deal, and an AFP journalist near the border heard multiple explosions on Thursday morning.
Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding, and Israeli hostage families still longing for the return of their loved ones.
News of the breakthrough prompted celebrations in both Israel and Gaza, with Israeli families of hostages setting off fireworks and Palestinians clapping and cheering at the prospect of peace.
If fully implemented, the accord would mark the closest the sides have come to halting the two-year-old war that has reshaped the Middle East, drawn in Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon, and deepened Israel’s international isolation.
Despite the hopes raised for ending the war, crucial details remain unclear — including the timing of troop withdrawals, a post-war administration for Gaza, and the future role of Hamas.
— With input from AFP and Reuters
- Five new rare earth elements added to export control list.
- Overseas defence users barred from obtaining export licences.
- New rules to affect chipmakers using Chinese materials worldwide.
China tightened its rare earth export controls on Thursday, saying it planned to limit exports to overseas defence firms and semiconductor users and adding five rare earth elements to its list.
The world’s largest rare earth producer also added dozens of pieces of refining technology to its control list and announced rules that will require compliance from foreign rare earth producers who use Chinese materials.
The Ministry of Commerce’s announcements follow US lawmakers’ call on Tuesday for broader bans on the export of chipmaking equipment to China.
They expand controls Beijing announced in April that caused shortages around the world, before a series of deals with Europe and the US eased the supply crunch.
The new curbs come weeks ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
“This helps with increasing leverage for Beijing ahead of the anticipated Trump-Xi summit in (South) Korea later this month,” said Tim Zhang, founder of Singapore-based Edge Research.
China produces over 90% of the world’s processed rare earths and rare earth magnets. The 17 rare earth elements are vital materials in products ranging from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and military radars.
Exports of 12 of them are now restricted after the Ministry of Commerce added five— holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium— along with related materials.
Foreign companies producing some of the rare earths and related magnets on the list will now also need a Chinese export license if the final product contains or is made with Chinese equipment or material. This applies even if the transaction includes no Chinese companies.
The regulations mimic rules the United States has implemented to restrict other countries’ exports of semiconductor-related products to China.
The ministry also added dozens of pieces of mining and refining equipment and materials to its control list.
China’s latest restrictions on the five additional elements and processing equipment will take effect on November 8, just before a 90-day trade truce with Washington expires.
The rules on foreign companies that make products using Chinese rare earths equipment or material are to take effect on December 1. Shares in China Northern Rare Earth Group, China Rare Earth Resources and Technology and Shenghe Resources surged by 10%, 9.97% and 9.4%, respectively, on Thursday.
Chips and defence
The ministry also said overseas defence users will not be granted licenses, while applications related to advanced semiconductors will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
The new rules apply to 14-nanometer chips or more advanced chips, memory chips with 256 layers or more, and equipment used in production of such chips, as well as to related research and development. These advanced chips are used in products from smartphones to AI chipsets that require powerful computing performance.
The rules will also apply to research and development of artificial intelligence with potential military applications.
South Korea, home to major memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, is assessing the details of the new restrictions and will continue discussions with China to minimise their impact, its industry ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
Samsung declined to comment. SK Hynix and Taiwan’s TSMC did not immediately respond to questions.
Shares in TSMC rose 1.8% on Thursday, as the company reported forecast-beating third-quarter revenue. South Korea’s financial markets were closed on Thursday for a public holiday.
Chinese rare earth shipments have been growing steadily over the past few months as Beijing grants more export licenses, although some users still complain they are struggling to obtain them.
In a nod to concerns about access, the ministry said the scope of items in its latest restrictions was limited and “a variety of licensing facilitation measures will be adopted”.
Britain said on Thursday it had signed a 350 million pound ($468 million) contract to supply the Indian army with UK-manufactured lightweight missiles, as part of a deepening weapons and defence partnership between the two countries.
The announcement came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was visiting Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Mumbai, where the pair hailed the potential of the commercial links from their months-old trade deal.
In its statement on the defence deal, the British government said the new contract for Lightweight Multirole Missiles made by Thales in Northern Ireland would secure 700 jobs at a factory which currently makes the same weapons for Ukraine.
“The deal paves the way for a broader complex weapons partnership between the UK and India, currently under negotiation between the two governments,” it said.
Starmer has, over the last 12 months, thrown his weight behind Britain’s defence sector to try to drive higher economic growth, pledging to up spending in line with Nato targets, as well as focusing on winning exports, such as a recent $13.5 billion frigate contract with Norway.
Britain also said on Thursday it reached a new milestone with India on a tie-up for electric-powered engines for naval ships as both countries signed the next phase of a deal, worth an initial 250 million pounds.
Palestinians in southern Gaza clapped, cheered and danced in the pre-dawn darkness on Thursday, after Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire deal to end the devastating two-year war in the territory.
A crowd of around a dozen young men shouted joyful chants of “Allahu akbar”, meaning God is the greatest, outside Khan Yunis’s Nasser Hospital, as one man lifted another onto his shoulders.
A man wearing a journalist’s press vest could also be seen carried above the crowd, speaking into a microphone.
“Thanks to God for this ceasefire, thanks for the end of the bloodshed and the killing,” said Abdelmajid Abedrabbo, a resident of south Gaza.
“I am not the only one who is happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all of the Arab people are happy about the ceasefire,” he added.
“Thanks and love to all those who stood with us and played a part in ending the bloodshed, sending you love from Gaza.”
Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed a Gaza ceasefire deal that could free the remaining living hostages within days, in a major step toward ending a war that has killed tens of thousands and unleashed a humanitarian crisis.
The agreement, to be signed on Thursday, also calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as well as prompt a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of war started in October 2023 attack on Israel.
‘We are happy’
“Despite all the wounding and the killing, and the loss of loved ones and relatives, we are happy today after the ceasefire,” Ayman al-Najjar told AFP in Khan Yunis.
“I lost my cousins and some friends, and a week ago I lost my beloved grandfather, may his soul rest in peace. But today, and in spite of all this, we are happy,” he added.
The Israel-Hamas war, which began on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,183 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
Militants also took 251 people hostages into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
‘Indescribable’
The ceasefire agreement follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump.
“Thank God, President Trump has announced that war ended, we are very happy,” said Wael Radwan.
“We thank our brothers and all of those who participated even with just words to stop this war and this bloodshed.”
Khaled Al-Namnam, 26, who is displaced in Al-Maghzai in the central Gaza Strip, said he had not expected the news.
“Suddenly, I woke up in the morning to incredibly beautiful news… everyone was talking about the end of the war, aid coming in, and the crossings being opened. I felt immense happiness,” he told AFP by telephone.
“It’s a strange feeling— indescribable— after two years of bombing, fear, terror, and hunger. Truly, it feels like we are being born again.”
Alice + Olivia reopens Madison Avenue flagship
Apple Took Down ICE-Tracking Apps. Their Developers Aren’t Giving Up
De Jong on LaLiga in the U.S.: ‘I wouldn’t do it’
Simulation tool improves accuracy and speed of electric grid modeling
Maje’s Elina Kousourna: “We need to succeed in instilling pride among our teams in selling at full price”
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Is Next Week, but We Already Found 40 Early Deals
-
Tech1 week agoSimulation tool improves accuracy and speed of electric grid modeling
-
Fashion1 week agoMaje’s Elina Kousourna: “We need to succeed in instilling pride among our teams in selling at full price”
-
Business1 week agoNike posts surprise sales growth but turnaround work is far from over
-
Tech1 week agoAmazon Prime Big Deal Days Is Next Week, but We Already Found 40 Early Deals
-
Business1 week agoTrade deal talks with Qatar from next week – The Times of India
-
Sports1 week agoMiami vs. Chicago (Sep 30, 2025) Live Score – ESPN
-
Tech1 week agoIndia ready to rev up chipmaking, industry pioneer says
-
Business1 week agoStock Market Updates: Sensex Down 131 Points In Pre-Open, Nifty At 24,604; RBI MPC Decision In Focus