Gaza ceasefire will begin on Sunday, Qatari prime minister says
The agreement will pause fighting which has raged in Gaza for more than a year and bring about the release of a number of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
Wednesday 15 January 2025 22:22, UK
A ceasefire agreement involving the release of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners has been reached after more than a year of deadly fighting in Gaza.
The ceasefire will take effect on Sunday, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.
It follows weeks of painstaking negotiations in Doha against the backdrop of a war in Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and many more injured and displaced from their homes.
Much of the densely-populated territory has been razed to the ground as Israel launched a ground offensive following the Hamas attacks on 7 October, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead and around 250 people taken hostage.
Follow live: Gaza ceasefire deal
The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase that includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of Palestinians to north Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an official briefed on the agreement.
Hamas will release 33 hostages, including all women, children and men over the age of 50, the agency said.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel will free between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every female Israeli soldier that Hamas releases.
There will also be a surge of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza as part of the agreement.
While officials on multiple sides reported that an agreement has indeed been reached, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there are still "several unresolved clauses in the outline... we hope that the details will be finalised tonight".
Negotiations over a second phase of the agreement are to begin on the 16th day of phase one and are expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including male Israeli soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
A third phase is expected to include the return of the bodies of the dead hostages and the beginning of Gaza's reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
Israel's government will vote on the Gaza deal on Thursday, an official said.
In an address to the nation, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on his country's government to approve the deal and said: "This is the right move.
"This is an important move. This is a necessary move."
He added: "Let there be no illusions. This deal when signed, approved, and implemented will bring with it deeply painful, challenging, and harrowing moments.
"It will also present significant challenges. This is not a simple situation; it is among the greatest challenges we have ever known."
Read more:
A timeline of events in a more than a year of war
Faces of 94 hostages who still haven't returned home
What does the agreement say?
The Israel-Hamas war in numbers
Hours later the Israeli prime minister's office said Mr Netanyahu had spoken with US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr Netanyahu thanked them both for helping bring about the release of hostages, and agreed to meet Mr Trump in Washington to discuss Gaza never being a "haven for terrorism".
Shortly after the ceasefire deal was announced, Hamas' acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address that Israel failed to achieve its goals in the Palestinian territory.
He also vowed Hamas will neither forgive or forget Israel's actions in Gaza.
Analysis: This deal wouldn't have happened without Trump
World leaders react to ceasefire deal
Palestinians celebrated in Khan Younis in Gaza as news of a possible ceasefire deal broke, while Israelis were seen reacting on the streets of Tel Aviv.
President Biden said the agreement followed "many months of intensive diplomacy" and said he was "thrilled" that the hostages are being reunited with their families.
"My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done," he added.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for."
Mr Trump, who will once again be president of the US in a few days, said: "We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly."
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed the importance of getting humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza "until sustainable peace is achieved through the two-state solution".
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who has been highly critical of Israel during the conflict, said this evening: "The United Nations stands ready to support the implementation of this deal and scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians who continue to suffer."
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What about humanitarian aid for Gaza?
The deal requires 600 aid trucks to be allowed into Gaza every day, but a senior UN official warned that this could be difficult if the agreement does not cover security arrangements.
"Security is not (the responsibility of) the humanitarians. And it's a very chaotic environment. The risk is that with a
vacuum it gets even more chaotic," the official told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said he was determined to destroy Hamas after the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 people and seized about 250 hostages when they entered Israel from Gaza on 7 October 2023.
More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.
The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its casualty count but said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
An end to this long war is finally in sight
Finally, after 467 days of fighting, a ceasefire agreement has been approved.
Within minutes, there were celebrations in Gaza. Palestinians were cheering on the streets of Khan Yunis, a city that is barely standing after 15 and a half months of war.
In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where weekly demonstrators calling for a deal have brought parts of the city to a standstill, there is now an outpouring of hope and relief that their loved ones might be home soon.
The deal will need to be approved by the Israeli security cabinet, expected to meet on Thursday 鈥� despite opposition from some far-right politicians, it should pass.
The Supreme Court in Jerusalem will be given the opportunity to hear objections relating to the Palestinian prisoners who will be released in the deal 鈥� that should be a relatively swift process and is unlikely to hold up the deal.
But the hard yards are complete, the two sides are in agreement and an end to this long war is finally in sight.