Gaza ceasefire agreement reached by Hamas and Israel, says Qatar’s prime minister | The Israel-Gaza War

Hamas and Israel have agreed on a ceasefire deal that pauses the war in Gaza and aims to mediate an end to the brutal 15-month conflict, mediator Qatar has said, and it must be officially accepted by Israel after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The announcement on Wednesday evening from the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, came after weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha. Efforts have intensified in recent days to nail down the final details following increased pressure on Israel to reach a deal from US President-elect Donald Trump, which Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged at his media conference.

“Both parties should fully commit to all three sentences (of the agreement) to steer away from further bloodshed and steer away from escalation in the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said, adding: “We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter of war.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday night before Sheikh Mohammed’s announcement that “several clauses in the framework remain unresolved and we hope that the details will be finalized tonight”. The issue is believed to relate to a last-minute dispute over the future of the Palestinian Territory’s border with Egypt; brokers informed that the problems had been solved.

Hamas announced hours before Qatar’s prime minister’s press conference that it had formally accepted the terms of the deal. Israel will officially accept the proposal during a cabinet vote on Thursday, and it is expected to take effect shortly after.

In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday evening, people gathered to celebrate the news from Doha, cheering and dancing in dark streets without electricity. “Praise be to God, we will soon be free to live as human beings again,” said a displaced father of four, Mohammed Azaiza.

In Tel Aviv, the mood was more somber as protesters in favor of a deal gathered in a rally held to remind Israel’s leaders of their position.

Maoz Inon, an Israeli peace activist whose parents were killed on October 7, told Al Jazeera: “It is too late for my parents and thousands of people in Gaza and thousands of Israelis, but this is what I have been calling for… a agreement and the beginning of a peace process. I am happy for all those who will sleep well tonight and return to their families.”

Israeli media reported that a first batch of hostages seized in the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war would be released on Sunday in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and wounded people would be allowed to leave Gaza Strip for medical treatment.

Children, women, including female soldiers, and the over-50s would be freed first, Sheikh Mohammed said. In return, Israel would release “a number of Palestinians”. The Associated Press reported that 50 Palestinians would be released for each female Israeli soldier released by Hamas and 30 for each of the other hostages.

In a post on social media, Trump said: “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East … They will be released shortly.”

He argued that the deal “could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November, when it signaled to the world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate agreements to ensure the security of all Americans and our allies”.

As expectations of a cease-fire deal rose earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu and his defense minister, Israel Katz, met one of the leading far-right figures in the coalition, the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich has been highly critical of previously proposed agreements with Hamas. His colleague, hardline minister Itamar Ben Gvir, had asked him to band together and pull their parties out of the coalition – potentially bringing down the government – if the deal was passed.

But unlike Ben Gvir, opinion polls suggest that Smotrich could face political oblivion in the event of new elections; political analysts say he has more of an incentive to keep the current Netanyahu coalition afloat.

According to an Israeli TV report, Smotrich presented Netanyahu with a list of conditions for his support, including a promise to return to war if Hamas emerges from the ruins still in control of the Gaza Strip, and to strictly limit the amount of Humanitarian aid allowed in.

The agreement, which was finalized in Doha by US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators, is reported to involve a gradual ceasefire and largely follows the contours of a cease-fire agreement that was only agreed last May. In the first 42-day phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

All fighting is on hold for the first phase, and Israeli forces are withdrawing from Gaza’s cities to a buffer zone along the edge of the strip, the details of which are to be laid out on maps that both sides have now signed.

About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes and should be allowed to move freely between the south and north of the territory, which Israel has cut in half by installing a military corridor. An increased flow of aid is expected to be allowed into Gaza, although details of how much aid are unclear.

The second phase is designed to be more extensive, with the remaining live hostages sent back and a similar ratio of Palestinian prisoners released, along with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip. It is a step Netanyahu had been very reluctant to take until now, and the details of this second phase are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase.

The third phase will deal with the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza will be launched. Arrangements for future management of the strip remain unclear.

A group representing some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas during the war welcomed the deal but called for “a framework that ensures the return of any person held captive”.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: “While we celebrate each reunion, our mission remains unfinished until all hostages – both the living and the dead – have returned home. For the 30 hostages who were murdered in captivity, this agreement tragically late. This agreement marks a decisive step, but it must be carried through to completion. We will not rest until we see the last hostage at home.”

More than 15 months of war have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, caused a humanitarian disaster and laid waste to most of Gaza’s infrastructure. The International Court of Justice is studying claims that Israel has committed genocide.

About 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7, 2023, and another 250 taken hostage. One hundred were released in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli prisons in a cease-fire deal held in November 2023 that collapsed after a week.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an exit speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday, outlined a vision for a post-war settlement in which Israel would accept unified leadership of Gaza and the West Bank under a reformed Palestinian Authority, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007. Israel has so far denied these conditions.

He also spoke of significant involvement from the international community and Arab countries, including the possibility of deploying troops to stabilize security and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

At a conference in Norway, the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, based in the West Bank, said the PA must be the “sole government” in Gaza after the war.