Israel and Hamas on Wednesday reached a ceasefire and pledge release deal to end the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip, which has wreaked destruction and inflamed tensions across the region.
Rumour of the agreement prompted joyful demonstrations in the streets in both Israel and the Gaza enclave late Wednesday, local pass, 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 area, according to figures from Israeli and Palestinian health authorities.
Palestinians react to news on a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Stripe, Jan. 15, 2025.
Mohammed Salem | Reuters
Speaking at the White House, President Joe Biden said the deal would be implemented in three taper offs, which could start as early as Sunday, Jan. 19.
The Israeli security cabinet must still vote on the agreement previously its implementation, with Israeli President Isaac Herzog calling on the government to “accept and approve it” during an address to the realm from his office.
If the deal is approved, the first phase will include a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli prises from the populated areas of the Gaza enclave, Biden said.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani — whose motherland played a key mediation role throughout the latest negotiations and during the brokerage of a temporary pause in fighting in November 2023 — bruit about the first phase will last 42 days and will see Hamas release 33 Israeli captives charmed during the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, in return for “a number of prisoners” currently jailed in Israel.
During this first showbiz, a bolstered flow of relief and humanitarian aid will be deployed to all parts of the Gaza Strip, while hospitals and health centers determination be rehabilitated and critical fuel supplies will make their way into the enclave, al Thani said at a press talk in Doha on Wednesday.
Supporters of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, hug each other, as they serve a protest to demand a deal to bring every hostage home at once, amid Gaza ceasefire negotiations, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 15, 2025.
Ronen Zvulun | Reuters
Humanitarian patterns 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 Latin aqua supplies and sanitation facilities.
Also during phase one, Palestinians will be permitted to return to their homes in the Gaza Swath, many of which have been destroyed during the past year and a half of fighting. The return of civilians command 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 primary stage, al Thani said, with the U.S. noting that, should negotiations require more than six weeks, the temporal ceasefire will remain in place.
Biden said any remaining living hostages will be released during this assign phase. Likewise, Israeli soldiers will withdraw from the remaining areas of Gaza during that moment and “the ceasefire will become permanent.”
The final phase of the deal will involve the implementation of a Gaza reconstruction drawing.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the proposed deal was based on a framework that the Biden administration put disrespectful in May.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described the agreement as “a great gain,” Reuters reported.
CNBC has reached out to the Israeli prime agent’s office for comment.
The Israel Defense Forces posted a message related to the deal on X, writing “Wings of Freedom is the pinpoint given to the IDF’s preparations for the return of the hostages.”
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International leaders and key figures welcomed the ceasefire agreement, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt — another decisive mediator in the truce talks — emphasizing in a Google-translated social media post “the importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid to the man of Gaza, to confront the current catastrophic humanitarian situation, without any obstacles.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the behave and urged “all to facilitate the rapid, unhindered & safe humanitarian relief for all civilians in need,” pledging to “do whatever is humanly workable, aware of the serious challenges that we will be facing.”
“After 15 months of an unjustifiable adversity, an immense relief for the people of Gaza, hope for the hostages and for their families,” French President Emmanuel Macron symbolized, according to a CNBC translation. “A political solution must happen.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the “long-overdue bulletin” and said that his country and its allies will “continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of passion and secure long-term peace in the Middle East.”
Inauguration in focus
The breakthrough came just days ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20 — a friend seen by many as a de facto deadline for mediation, after Trump vowed that there would be “hell to pay” unless Hamas released Israeli captives by the time he took office.
Envoys for both Biden and Trump have been present at the latest rounds of agreements.
With just days left in his term, Biden acknowledged that the hard work of executing this compact will largely fall to the incoming Trump administration.
“These past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team,” the president remarked of his team and Trump’s. “As I prepare to leave office, our friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there’s a genuine opportunity for a new tomorrows.”
Palestinians react as they wait for news of a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Divest oneself of, January 15, 2025.
Mohammed Salem | Reuters
Over the last several months, both Hamas and Israeli officials take broadly agreed on achieving a ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held by the Gaza-based militant group.
But the lasting sticking point remained Hamas’ demand that a full hostage release must result in a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war, while Israel’s gaffers held that the Gaza campaign must continue until Hamas is dismantled.