Netanyahu Prohibits Comments on Gaza Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prohibited government members from making comments in the media regarding the Gaza peace agreement until all hostages are released, reported Israel's Channel 14. According to him, the directive will remain in effect until the implementation of a program for the return of all living and deceased captives, which is intended as the first phase of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

On the night of October 10, the Israeli government approved an agreement for the release of "all hostages, both living and deceased," as previously reported by the Prime Minister's office. On October 9, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that representatives of Israel and the radical Palestinian Hamas movement had reached an agreement on the first phase of a peace plan following negotiations in Egypt. He disclosed that this phase entails the release of all hostages "in the near future" and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed line within Gaza.