Israel, Hamas agree on Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages: NPR

People walk past stalls selling goods amid the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

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Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a multi-phase ceasefire that commits them to end the war in Gaza, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch said at Sen. Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of state.

“I have just been informed that a cease-fire has been announced in Gaza. Before we all celebrate, of course we all want to see how well it is carried out,” Risch said.

In the first phase, which lasts six weeks, Hamas promises to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for a much larger number of Palestinian prisoners. It is not clear how many are involved, as the group wants more prisoners per each hostage freed alive but has not said how many are still alive. Israel believes that most are. The total number of Palestinians released from Israeli custody is expected to be around 1,000, according to a Palestinian official who was not authorized to speak to the media.

The agreement comes after weeks of a series of intensive rounds of indirect negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha between Israel and Hamas, brokered by facilitators from the US, Egypt and Qatar. Emissaries from both President Biden’s administration and President-elect Trump’s team were also there, pushing the parties to close a deal.

Relatives and supporters of hostages being held at the Gaza Strip demonstration outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem on January 14.

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Jamal Awad/Xinhua via Getty Images

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza. About 100 hostages were released in a similar deal between Israel and Hamas in late 2023, while others were rescued or found dead.

About 240 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons as part of this deal. The war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who said the majority were women and children. The Israeli military says 405 soldiers have been killed in fighting since it invaded Gaza.

This is a news story and will be updated.