Turkey prepared to deploy troops for Gaza taskforce
The withdrawal of Israeli troops is part of a deal that also calls for the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza.
Turkey is prepared to deploy troops to take part in any peacekeeping mission in Gaza, according to a government official.
"Our Turkish armed forces, with their experience in establishing and maintaining peace, are ready for any task entrusted to them," a Defence Ministry source in Ankara told the AFP news agency.
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Turkey - along with Egypt and Qatar - has played a key role in mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Turkey also dispatched a team to talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the first phase of a ceasefire deal was agreed.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that "a team consisting of the United States, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar will play a facilitating role in following up on [the] agreed-upon points [in the peace plan], and will discuss the issues with both sides."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday said Turkey would participate in a "task force" to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire deal, but did not elaborate further.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) were pulling back from several parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, according to both the Gaza civil defence agency and media reports in Israel.
"Israeli forces have withdrawn from several areas in Gaza City," one senior Gaza official told AFP, adding that military vehicles had also pulled out from sections of the southern city of Khan Younis.
The moves come after the Israeli government's acceptance of a peace deal overnight, according to which Israeli troops have 24 hours to fall back to positions that leave them in control of 53 per cent of the Gaza Strip. The plan calls for a staggered withdrawal to follow as the ceasefire remains in place.
According to the Times of Israel newspaper, the partial withdrawal was taking place "under the cover of artillery shelling and airstrikes." Those strikes came even after the Israeli government said a ceasefire was in effect.
The Israeli paper reported that the troop movements would be completed by noon local time (0830 GMT), from which point the Palestinian militant group Hamas would have 72 hours to return all living hostages.
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