Kate Bullivant

After two years of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to release all hostages in Gaza, getting President Trump closer to his goal of resolving the conflict.

Plus, behind closed doors, Republicans express fears that Trump's shutdown strategy could backfire.

And France's president looks for a way out of a fiscal hole that's turned into a political crisis.

It's Thursday, October 9th.

I'm Kate Bullivant for The Wall Street Journal.

And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

We begin with a breakthrough in the Middle East.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal that would see all of the remaining Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip released.

There are 20 hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza.

Egyptian officials who mediated the talks said Hamas would let them go as soon as Sunday morning, while President Trump told Fox News that they would probably be released on Monday.

Journal deputy world coverage chief Mike Amon said that while the deal marks progress toward peace, the hard part is still to come.

The deal reached yesterday, which is the first phase of Trump's plan to end the war, also includes the opening of a border crossing to allow humanitarian aid into the enclave, the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and the withdrawal of Israeli troops in Gaza to an agreed-upon area, though crucial details are still being hashed out and could still derail the agreement.

And then there's a host of other details that'll need to be resolved in the next phase of the peace plan.

Here's Mike again.

To Washington now.

As a government shutdown enters its second week, we're exclusively reporting that senior Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have cautioned the White House against moving forward with far-reaching government cuts and mass layoffs.

According to people familiar with the matter, lawmakers have told Trump's aides that such moves could backfire with the public.

The conversations reflect discomfort among some Republicans over the president's shutdown strategy, which aims to pressure Democrats into striking a deal.

Democrats are so far refusing to budge, arguing that Republicans first need to agree to extend expiring health care subsidies.

Meanwhile in China, Beijing is tightening its control over critical minerals used in high-tech products like EVs and jet fighters.