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Middle East conflict

Israel to withdraw troops from Gaza cities on Friday, Hamas official says

Perhaps some arrangements will be made on Thursday night, Osama Hamdan said

DOHA, October 9. /TASS/. Israel will pull its troops out of major cities in the Gaza Strip on October 10, Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the Qatari Al-Araby TV channel.

"It (Israeli troop withdrawal - TASS) will take place tomorrow. Perhaps some arrangements will be made on [Thursday] night, so the withdrawal should begin tomorrow," he said.

In the first phase, Hamdan explained, Israel will pull its troops from all populated areas in Gaza, including Gaza City, Rafah, and Khan Younis, and the northern enclave. And the Jewish state will complete the troop withdrawal over a defined period as part of the second stage of the agreement, he added.

Even as Israeli negotiators agreed to tweaks made by Hamas to US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan to exit residential areas and neighborhoods where displaced people will return, "until the [official Israeli] government announcement regarding this, we are ready for any developments," the Hamas official noted.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump stated that negotiators from Israel and Hamas had signed agreements on the first stage of his peace plan following negotiations in Egypt.

On September 29, the White House released Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Israel agreed to the first phase of the initiative. Hamas expressed readiness to release all living Israeli hostages and hand over the bodies of the dead ones.

According to the Ynet news website, the ceasefire between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement came into effect on Thursday.

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Palestine Israel

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