Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the agreement between Israel and Hamas for the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire and hostage release deal.
PM Modi said this reflects Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s “strong leadership”.
"We welcome the agreement on the first phase of President Trump's peace plan. This is also a reflection of the strong leadership of PM Netanyahu. We hope the release of hostages and enhanced humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza will bring respite to them and pave the way for lasting peace."
What do we know about the deal?
The agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework resulted from indirect talks in Egypt, just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza.
Trump announced that both Israel and Hamas had signed off on the first phase of the plan and this would bring the release of all hostages, alive and dead, "very soon" and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the so-called yellow line in Gaza. According to a senior Israeli security source, that is a boundary for an initial Israeli pullback under the Trump plan.
Trump also spoke over a phone call with the families of Israeli hostages and said, "the hostages will come back, they’re all coming back on Monday."
Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, that includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange, but the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire.
With Reuters inputs
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