After 15 months of bloodshed and conflict, Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a multiphase ceasefire deal set to go into effect this Sunday. The deal, announced on Wednesday by President Biden and Qatar’s prime minister, includes an end to the war in Gaza. The deal came after weeks of negotiations in Dohar, the Qatari capital, between Israel and Hamas mediated by representatives from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.
Although both sides have come to an agreement, violence ensued with Israeli attacks reported to have killed more than 50 people on Wednesday. As details emerge, the deal would be split into three phases over an extended period. The immediate goal is to bring relief to the Gaza Strip, where ninety percent of the area’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced due to the mass destruction caused by the fighting.
In the first phase, anticipated to last six weeks, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. It was not reported how many are involved because not all the detainees are confirmed to be alive, according to Israeli officials. In addition, Israel will not remove, but rather reduce its military presence in Gaza. Hamas will not release the remaining hostages, and Israel will not withdraw from Gaza until a later, undefined date.
Phases two and three will go into effect after the first, but stage two will mark a “permanent end of the war,” President Joe Biden said during remarks Wednesday. In this phase, all remaining hostages will be released and the Israeli military will withdraw from Gaza. Stage three involves the returns of the remains of the deceased hostages and a “major reconstruction plan for Gaza” said Biden. The ceasefire agreement also includes the opening of the Rafah crossing with both sides working together to open the border crossing to allow international aid into Gaza, said an Egyptian security source.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there remained “several unresolved points,” but hoped “the details will be finalized [Wednesday].” The deal marks the first formal ceasefire since a one-week lull in the fighting which included 100 Israeli hostages being exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Other hostages were rescued or found dead.
Although Israel and Hamas have been involved in a number of conflicts throughout their respective histories, none of the previous wars have been this long or deadly.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza. As of now, the conflict has been reported to have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who said the majority were women and children. The Israeli military says 405 soldiers have been killed during fighting since the invasion of Gaza.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations were represented in pressuring the ceasefire to proceed.
“This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration,” Biden said, “but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.” This was the same as his original proposal, which was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in May 2024.
In contrast, President-elect Donald Trump claimed that he was the reason a ceasefire deal was passed saying, “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.”
This comes after an effort by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza and release all remaining captives before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. On Jan. 6, Blinken reported “intensified engagement,” by both sides on reaching a deal, although he added, “We are yet to see agreement on final points.”
“We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages, getting them out, for people in Gaza, bringing them relief, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved,” Blinken said at the time.
