Gaza Ceasefire Reached, Shutdown Day 9, Chicago National Guard

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal.

In Gaza, some Palestinians celebrated when they heard the news.

A hostage exchange is part of the deal, but does this mean the war is over?

Amy Martinez, that's Leila Faddle, and this is up first from NPR News.

Senators will vote again today on the same partisan bills to fund the government.

Republicans and Democrats are waiting for the other side to blink.

Our Republican colleagues, House, Senate, White House, are feeling the heat.

Meanwhile, the government is still shut down.

Is there a way out when no one is negotiating?

And hundreds of National Guard troops are staging outside of Chicago at President Trump's direction.

Local and state officials are fighting the troop deployment in court while immigration enforcement ramps up in the windy city.

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It appears that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phases of a ceasefire deal.

The deal hinges on the exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians detained and imprisoned by Israel.

President Trump, who has personally pushed forward the plan, made the announcement on social media last night.

For more on what we know, we're joined by NPR's CarrieCon in Tel Aviv.

Good morning, Kerry.

Good morning.

So, Kerry, I can hear you're outside.

Where are you joining us from?

I'm in downtown Tel Aviv in this public square that has been a central gathering spot for hostage families and supporters since the start of the war.

Crowds have been gathering for hours, even in the early morning after the announcement of a deal was made.

So that deal, let's start with what we know about it.

What has been agreed to here?

The ceasefire was expected to begin at noon local time, and PR was told by a person not authorized to speak to the media and briefed by Israeli officials that it will go into effect as soon as the deal is signed in Egypt.

Let me tell you about some of what we know now about this initial phase.

Negotiators have been in Egypt meeting all this week, and that includes high-level Israeli and the Hamas leaders, as well as top mediators from the region.

There's Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, and President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Within 72 hours of the signing, Hamas says it will release all living hostages.

We believe that to be 20 people.

Israel says it will make a partial pullback in the territory to lines in the Trump plan for now, but that leaves forces still deep inside Gaza.

Israel says it will release 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, and that would include all women and children detained in Gaza and also up to 250 prisoners serving life sentences inside Israel.

Israel says it will let in more aid to Gaza.

There are still major sticking points to be worked out and beyond this initial phase.

Right, so a lot to be worked out there.

What was the reaction in Gaza to the news of this agreement?

Of course, we heard people very relieved, but there is a lot of fear of getting one's hopes up.

You know, we've been here before during this war to see agreements and deals fall apart.

And you have to remember, people have been battered after two years of extreme trauma, displacement, killings, and starvation.

More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed during this war.

We spoke with Ibrahim Ali in central Gaza this morning.

He told us, God willing, this sticks.

We hope it will happen, he repeated over and over again, and that our lives can return to how they were.

He then said this is going to be extremely hard given all the destruction, the dead, and all the bloodshed.

The Israeli military says it is now preparing to pull back, but it did add it will always defend itself.

And what about in Israel, where you are?

What's the mood?

Here in Hostage Square, where I am, the mood is upbeat for sure.

Celebrations keep breaking out.

When there's a break in the rain, it's been raining a lot this morning.

And the crowd is just growing.

It's filling the square already.

I spoke with Danny Miran here.

He is the father of Omri, a hostage still held in Gaza.

He said he feels like he is on top of the clouds.

It is a supreme feeling.

I feel like I'm about to see my son any moment now.

It's like the rebirth of a child, he told us.

I asked him what gives him confidence that this ceasefire will stick, and he said the participation of the Arab countries this time around.

And many here are praising President Trump.

One man dressed in a red, white, and blue shirt waving an American flag called Trump the eighth wonder of the world.

And Pierce Kerry Khan joining us from Tel Aviv.

Thank you for your reporting, Kerry.

You're welcome.

The Senate will vote again today on funding the government.

Lawmakers have already held six failed votes, and today's seventh attempt is expected to go the same way.

With no ends in sight, leaders on Capitol Hill have been locked in a war of words.

Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson opening his press conference at the Capitol yesterday.

Welcome, everyone, to day eight of the Democrat shutdown.

On the opposite side of the Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says pressure is building on the GOP on subsidies for health care.

Our Republican colleagues, House, Senate, White House, are feeling the heat.

NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is following all of this.

Well, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both have been arguing that Republicans have a plan to fund the government.

And they say Democrats just keep blocking that bill because of pressure from their base, that they're just playing politics.

These leaders say no deal can happen on health care without Democrats helping to pass a bill to end this shutdown.

Thune has said that some of his own members do want to address these tax credits expiring at the end of the year.

That issue has really become the central sticking point in this fight.

And he says Congress can debate that, but he says no talks until the government reopens.

Speaker Johnson says he's not even planning to call the House back to Washington until Senate Democrats help Republicans fund the government.

But on health care, it's worth noting that the Speaker really faces a lot of resistance from conservatives in the House who are against any bill to extend these Obamacare subsidies.

That's really going to complicate getting a deal.

Yeah, and as far as the Democrats go, I mean, they really only have one game plan with no wiggle room.

You are right.

I mean, they want this debate to be all about health care costs.

They admit they really don't have much leverage because they're in the minority, but they think this really high-profile fight gives them a platform on an issue they argue argue the public is with them on.

Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continue to say over and over again that really the country is worried about rising costs.

And they point out that health care costs are the main ones that could be spiking in coming weeks if Congress doesn't address health care problems.

Are there any lawmakers cracking maybe, maybe breaking from their leadership?

You know, Democrats I talked to are really largely united.

That's a big difference from when this fight happened back in March.

There are a a few exceptions of lawmakers who have been voting with Republicans, but that group has not been growing yet.

Most Democrats say these threats from the president about not paying furloughed federal workers or canceling projects in blue states just aren't working.

They say, look, the Trump administration was already firing people, cutting government programs.

That would happen with or without a shutdown.

Republicans, for their part, are pretty united too.

They just keep saying, look, we voted to keep the government open, but we are seeing some cracks.

A big one, notable one, from Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.

She is now publicly criticizing her own leadership for not having a plan to address rising health care costs.

And she says her own adult children, their costs are going to double.

Any path at all do you see to ending the shutdown?

You know, I think the pressure has to come from outside Washington with people feeling the impacts.

We're already seeing airport delays.

There's another concern coming up with the military military not getting paid.

That paycheck that they could miss is on October 15th.

There is a bipartisan group of senators trying to find this compromise on health care.

I think a combination of outside pressure and maybe some more details on that deal is a key to unlocking a way out.

NPR is dear to Walsh.

Thanks.

Thanks, A.

Hundreds of National Guard troops are staging outside of Chicago under orders from President Trump.

It's in response to recent protests against immigration and customs enforcement operations in Chicago.

Trump has said the city is a war zone, and now the president is calling for the arrest of Illinois Governor J.B.

Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

NPR Sergio Martinez-Beltran joins me now from Chicago.

Good morning, Sergio.

Good morning, Layla.

I mean, it's pretty unprecedented to hear a U.S.

president call for the arrest of a duly elected city mayor and state governor.

What is he saying about why?

I mean, President Trump says they should be arrested for, quote, failing to protect ICE officers, but it's unclear what actions he's actually referring to.

Now, Mayor Johnson says he is protecting the residents of Chicago and that he will fight the Trump administration over this National Guard deployment.

I sat down with Mayor Johnson yesterday, and this is what he told me about being threatened with jail time.

This is not the first time Trump has accused or insisted on a black man being arrested, a president that is threatening to jail his political opponents is a clear, yet another example of authoritarianism.

And Johnson is also pushing back on Trump's claims that Chicago is a dangerous city or a war zone.

This summer, Chicago has had the lowest number of homicides since the 1960s.

And that's something that Trump has not acknowledged.

Now, the National Guard have been in Chicago before.

Under what circumstances were they deployed before?

Most recently, during the protests after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

And it's always been at the request of state officials.

This time it's different though.

They don't want it here.

And that's why the anger, frustration, and at times despair of residents is so palpable here.

Last night, hundreds of people peacefully marched in downtown Chicago protesting the deployment of the troops.

And the folks we've talked to here, Layla, like Eric Harvey, a construction worker, do not want ICE agents around, and they certainly do not want the National Guard patrolling the the streets.

That's a publicity stunt, man.

That's just some stuff he's doing so that people can say, oh, Trump is doing this about immigration.

You snatching kids and people that get up and go to work every day.

That's who you're grabbing.

You're not grabbing no criminals.

Harvey lives in a neighborhood that recently saw a big ICE raid at a residential building.

He and other residents we talked to in this area say the Chicago Police Department is doing its job and that they don't see how the National Guard or ICE can make the city safer.

And what about immigrants in Chicago?

What are they telling you?

For immigrants, this is terrifying.

About one in five residents in Chicago are foreign-born, according to the census.

So, this has been a city where immigrants have created a community and have contributed to it big time.

But now they feel unsafe.

Jackson is a Venezuelan migrant who says he feels even more scared with the National Guard around.

He's worried about being detained by immigration enforcement.

That's why we're only using his first name.

Now, Jackson has three kids and a wife, and he says they're even afraid of leaving the house to buy food.

And he has not been able to work lately because of the presence of federal enforcement agencies in the city.

Now, Leila, there is still a possibility that the troops are legally blocked from being deployed into Chicago.

A federal court later today will hear and perhaps decide whether Trump can do this or not.

Meanwhile, in a different courtroom, but at the same time, a panel of judges will hear whether the National Guard will be allowed into Portland.

You're welcome.

And that's Up First for Thursday, October 9th.

I'm Layla Falden.

And I'm Emartinez.

Thanks for listening to Up First.

You can find more in-depth coverage of the stories we talked about today and a lot more on NPR's Morning Edition.

That is the radio show that Layla, Michelle Martin, Steve Inskeep, and I host.

You can find Morning Edition on your local MPR station at stations.npr.org.

Where's my last name?

Why don't you say my last name?

I have two names.

No, I'm just kidding.

People just know me by Layla.

It's fine.

Cheryl.

Today's episode.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Kelsey Snell, Cheryl Corley, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley.

It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange.

Join us again tomorrow.

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