Israel and Hamas on Wednesday reached a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip, which has wreaked destruction and inflamed tensions across the region.
News of the agreement prompted joyful demonstrations in the streets in both Israel and the Gaza enclave late Wednesday, local time, setting the stage to end a conflict that has killed around 1,200 people in the Jewish state and more than 46,000 people in the blockaded Gaza territory, according to figures from Israeli and Palestinian health authorities.
Speaking at the White House, President Joe Biden said the deal would be implemented in three phases, which could start as early as Sunday, Jan. 19.
The Israeli security cabinet must still vote on the agreement before its implementation, with Israeli President Isaac Herzog calling on the government to “accept and approve it” during an address to the nation from his office.
If the deal is approved, the first phase will include a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas of the Gaza enclave, Biden said.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani — whose country played a key mediation role throughout the latest negotiations and during the brokerage of a temporary pause in fighting in November 2023 — said the first phase will last 42 days and will see Hamas release 33 Israeli captives taken during the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, in return for “a number of prisoners” currently jailed in Israel.
During this first stage, a bolstered flow of relief and humanitarian aid will be deployed to all parts of the Gaza Strip, while hospitals and health centers will be rehabilitated and critical fuel supplies will make their way into the enclave, al Thani said at a press conference in Doha on Wednesday.
Humanitarian organizations have previously warned of the risk of famine and epidemics in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the absence or destruction of food and water supplies and sanitation facilities.
Also during phase one, Palestinians will be permitted to return to their homes in the Gaza Strip, many of which have been destroyed during the past year and a half of fighting. The return of civilians will be accompanied by a surge in humanitarian aid to the enclave, according to Biden.
Details of the second and third phases of the agreement will be finalized during the implementation of the first stage, al Thani said, with the U.S. noting that, should negotiations require more than six weeks, the temporary ceasefire will remain in place.
Biden said any remaining living hostages will be released during this second phase. Likewise, Israeli soldiers will withdraw from the remaining areas of Gaza during that time and “the ceasefire will become permanent.”
The final phase of the deal will involve the implementation of a Gaza reconstruction plan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the proposed deal was based on a framework that the Biden administration put forward in May.