Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli activists on Thursday in Ramallah to discuss long-term peace efforts, following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

During his meeting with dozens of representatives from Israeli peace organizations at the presidential palace in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Abbas welcomed “the agreement signed today, the end of the war, and the release of hostages.”

He added, “A few months ago, US President (Donald) Trump had a plan to expel the Palestinians, but he later forgot it. Nevertheless, we will remain in our homeland and establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.”

Abbas delivered his speech from a platform in the presence of Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh and Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh, exchanging smiles and jokes with the activists.

A correspondent from AFP reported two power outages that left attendees in darkness for moments.

Among those present was activist and Israeli military service refuser Eido Eilam, who explained his reasons for refusing to join the Israeli army, while Abbas gave him a double thumbs-up gesture to show his support.

Rula Dawood, co-director of the Israeli mass movement “Standing Together,” which aims to bring Palestinian and Israeli Jewish communities closer, expressed the movement’s demands for “a different future, aspiring for peace between Jews and Palestinians.”

Details of the ceasefire agreement reached early Thursday between Israel and Hamas, the political rival of Abbas’s Fatah movement, were absent from the discussion.

The agreement could lead to the release of all living hostages held in Gaza within days, a key step toward ending the two-year-long war that has killed tens of thousands and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

The agreement stipulates the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has effectively rejected the idea of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah managing Gaza after the war, his deputy Hussein al-Sheikh announced on the “X” platform Thursday that the Palestinian Authority “has completed all preparations to take over the administration of Gaza after the war and oversee its reconstruction process.”