UK PM Keir Starmer welcomes Gaza ceasefire deal
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has welcomed the agreement and called for aid to be allowed enter Gaza after months of Israel’s blockade and siege of the Palestinian territory.
“I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza,” Starmer 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,” he said.
Amnesty: Truce a path to ending Israel’s ‘unlawful occupation, apartheid and genocide’
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said the truce deal is “cruelly overdue” after two years of suffering, and it will “not erase all [the Palestinians] have endured”.
Callamard also called on Israel to immediately end its suffocating blockade on Gaza and allow the “unhindered flow” of aid into the besieged enclave.
The Amnesty chief said that for “any lasting ceasefire agreement to succeed”, it must include an “immediate stop to Israel’s genocide”, as well as “concrete steps” to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories and “dismantle the system of apartheid” there.
“The current plan – the so-called ‘Trump peace plan’ – falls woefully short in this. It fails to demand justice and reparations for victims of atrocity crimes or accountability for perpetrators,” Callamard added.
For more than 2 million Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip who have faced two years of agonizing suffering, relentless bombardment and systematic starvation amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide, for those held hostage by Palestinian armed groups, and for those arbitrarily…
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) October 9, 2025
Palestinian Islamic Jihad says ceasefire deal result of ‘enormous sacrifices’ in Gaza
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the second largest armed group in Gaza, says the ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange are not a “gift from anyone”, but, at the same time, does not deny international efforts in securing the deal.
“We emphasise the enormous sacrifices made by our Palestinian people, and the courage and bravery of its fighters on the ground who confronted the enemy forces and showed unprecedented courage in combat,” the PIJ said in a statement.
“In these historic moments, our people will not forget their great martyrs who played the most important role in keeping the resistance steadfast,” it added.
