New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed a "momentous development" in the country's war in Gaza, crediting former US President Donald Trump and his envoys for helping secure a breakthrough ceasefire and the imminent release of hostages held by Hamas.

Speaking shortly after his government approved the first phase of a US-brokered Gaza peace deal, Netanyahu said Israel was close to fulfilling one of its main war aims - bringing home all the captives.

"In the last two years, we've fought to achieve our war aims. And a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages. All of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we're about to achieve that," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu expressed deep grat...