By: Fern Sidman

A fragile calm descended on Gaza at noon local time Friday — 5 a.m. Eastern — as an Israel-Hamas ceasefire officially went into effect under the first phase of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, a move that CBS News described on Saturday as a “critical test of diplomacy after one of the most protracted and devastating conflicts in the region’s history.”

According to the information provided in the CBS News report, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the 72-hour countdown for the release of all remaining hostages — both living and deceased — began immediately following the cessation of hostilities. Israeli officials said that 48 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive, their fates hanging in the balance of the complex and politically charged deal.

The truce, brokered through months of back-channel negotiations involving U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and key regional partners in Egypt and Qatar, represents the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the October 7th Hamas attacks that plunged Israel and Gaza into all-out war.

Under the terms of the agreement — the opening act of what CBS News has termed President Trump’s “comprehensive post-war framework” — Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the return of the Israeli hostages.

The exchange, a delicate humanitarian and political balancing act, also includes provisions for what Trump called the “full and immediate resumption of humanitarian aid” to Gaza. According to the information contained in the CBS News report, Israel has agreed to permit the entry of food, medicine, and construction materials “without delay” as part of the ceasefire’s humanitarian corridor mechanism.

“The humanitarian dimension of this agreement is not a side issue—it’s the core of it,” one senior U.S. official told CBS News. “The goal is to save lives and stabilize conditions enough to make political progress possible.”

As the ceasefire took hold, CBS News correspondents on the ground in Gaza documented scenes of cautious return and disbelief.

Crowds of Palestinians, many barefoot and carrying children, were seen trekking northward toward the ruins of their homes.

“People are trying to find what’s left of their lives,” one Gaza resident told CBS News correspondent Imtiaz Tyab, who has been reporting from Rafah since the earliest days of the conflict. “We don’t know if this peace will hold. But for now, the bombs are silent, and that is something.”

Israeli soldiers remained stationed along designated “security corridors” to monitor the ceasefire compliance, though the CBS News report noted that the Israeli military has refrained from withdrawing fully, citing the need for “rapid response readiness” in case of ceasefire violations.

President Trump hailed the ceasefire as “a new dawn for peace” in remarks from the White House before departing for a scheduled visit to Israel on Monday. “Our goal is not just to stop a war but to lay the groundwork for a lasting peace built on strength, honesty, and mutual respect,” he said.

CBS News reported that Trump plans to address the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, where he is expected to formally outline the next stages of his administration’s peace plan — including security guarantees for Israel, reconstruction funds for Gaza, and a multinational oversight committee to ensure compliance.

“President Trump’s team has spent months on this,” CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell observed during Friday’s broadcast. “This is as much about diplomatic choreography as it is about political endurance.”

The ceasefire’s approval marks the culmination of intensive U.S.-Israeli coordination involving both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who were instrumental in shaping the terms of the deal. “There was skepticism on all sides,” a senior Israeli source told CBS News, “but at a certain point, the human imperative outweighed the politics.”

Reactions to the ceasefire were swift and varied.

In Washington, both former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice offered rare bipartisan praise for the Trump administration’s diplomatic achievement during an appearance on CBS News.

“This is one of those rare moments where you have to give credit where it’s due,” Clinton said in her interview with O’Donnell. “If this ceasefire holds and those hostages come home, that’s a victory not just for diplomacy but for humanity.”

Rice echoed the sentiment, calling the deal “a courageous and necessary step” and highlighting the role of “persistent American engagement” in reaching this point.

But as the CBS News report noted, skepticism remains high among analysts who warn that the underlying causes of the conflict — Hamas’ control of Gaza, the displacement of Israeli communities in the south, and the broader question of Palestinian governance — remain unresolved.

“Ceasefires are fragile by nature,” CBS’s Margaret Brennan, chief foreign affairs correspondent, said. “This one will depend on how both sides manage their expectations — and whether the international community can sustain pressure long enough to make it stick.”

In Israel, families of hostages gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, a now-iconic symbol of unity and anguish, to await word of the first releases.

According to the CBS News report, the atmosphere in the square was electric yet solemn, with hundreds waving flags, singing, and clutching photographs of loved ones. Many wore T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Bring Them Home.”

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, one of the architects of the agreement, told the crowd via live broadcast, “The next three days will test the strength of every one of us — but I believe this nation has shown the world that peace is possible, even when it feels impossible.”

Despite the day’s optimism, CBS News correspondents cautioned that challenges lie ahead.

Israeli security sources told the network that militant factions not directly controlled by Hamas, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, could attempt to disrupt the ceasefire. Meanwhile, internal tensions within Israel’s coalition government — particularly among hardline ministers skeptical of the prisoner exchange — could complicate future stages of the plan.

“The question now,” said CBS News political analyst Anthony Salvanto, “is whether this initial 72-hour window can create enough trust and momentum to transition from a truce to a sustainable peace.”

For President Trump, who has staked significant political capital on achieving what previous administrations could not, the coming days will be a defining test. As CBS News put it, “This ceasefire isn’t just a diplomatic experiment — it’s the centerpiece of Trump’s claim to having reshaped the Middle East.”

As night fell over Gaza and the hum of drones gave way to an uneasy quiet, CBS News correspondents described scenes of families cautiously emerging from shelters, lighting candles, and whispering prayers for their loved ones still captive.

In Israel, synagogue congregations recited Tehillim (Psalms) for the safe return of the hostages. In Washington, the U.S. flag was lowered to half-staff at the State Department in honor of “all victims of terror and all who still wait for homecoming.”

Whether this ceasefire becomes a footnote or a turning point will depend on what happens over the next 72 hours. For now, as CBS News summarized in its evening broadcast, “The guns are silent. The hostages may soon be home. And for the first time in months, the people of Israel and Gaza are breathing the same rare air — the air of peace, however fragile.”