Israel and Hamas agree Gaza ceasefire

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Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal to halt the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages, raising hopes of an end to the bloodiest round of fighting in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s history.

The multiphase agreement comes days before Donald Trump takes office as US president. Trump’s warning that there would be “all hell to pay” if the hostages were not released before his inauguration on Monday helped inject renewed momentum into the long-stalled talks.

“WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. “THANK YOU!”

A person close to the talks said a deal had been done after Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister, had met Hamas and Israeli negotiators separately in a final push for an agreement.

Previous attempts to broker a deal to end the 15-month conflict and secure the release of the 98 Israeli hostages still in Gaza — not all of whom are alive — had repeatedly foundered as Israel and Hamas refused to make the concessions necessary to reach an agreement.

The first phase of the deal will involve a 42-day truce, during which 33 Israeli hostages — including children, all female prisoners, the sick and the elderly — will be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza.

No later than day 16 of the truce, the two parties will begin negotiating the second phase of the deal, during which the remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are meant to be released in exchange for further Palestinian prisoners.

The second phase is also supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. 

The final phase would involve return of all remaining dead bodies, and the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s shock assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, during which militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took another 250 hostage.

Israel’s devastating retaliatory offensive has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, as well as reducing much of Gaza to rubble, and fuelling a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave.