Israel and Hamas reach Gaza ceasefire deal to end 15-month war
Despite the breakthrough, residents said Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza on Thursday morning.
Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire deal, set to take effect on Sunday, which includes the release of hostages held during 15 months of conflict that devastated Gaza and intensified tensions in the Middle East.
The complex phased accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed.
Hostages taken by militant group Hamas would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps to implement the deal, he said.
US President Joe Biden said in Washington: “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.”
Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 15, 2025
My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done – I will speak more about this soon. pic.twitter.com/iETWhGXEGA
Despite the breakthrough, residents said Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza, where more than 46,000 people have been killed in the last 15 months, according to local health authorities. Strikes on Gaza City and northern Gaza killed at least 32 people, medics said.
A Palestinian official close to the talks said mediators were trying to get both sides to stop hostilities before the truce starts on Sunday.
‘Tears of joy’
Palestinians responded to news of the deal by celebrating in the streets of Gaza, where they have faced severe shortages of food, water, shelter and fuel. In Khan Younis, people clogged the streets amid the sounds of horns as they cheered, waved Palestinian flags and danced.
“I am happy. Yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy,” said Ghada, a displaced mother of five.
In Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages and their friends rejoiced at the news, saying in a statement they felt “overwhelming joy and relief [about] the agreement to bring our loved ones home”.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country’s security cabinet and government, with votes slated for Thursday, an Israeli official said.
The accord was expected to win approval despite opposition from some hardliners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, including finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who repeated his condemnation of the agreement on Thursday.
Netanyahu called Biden and US president-elect Donald Trump to thank them and said he would visit Washington soon, his office said.
In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact “an achievement for our people” and “a turning point”.
Defusing regional tensions
If successful, the ceasefire will halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza and displaced most of the enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
That, in turn, could defuse tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has stoked conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.
Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50.
The agreement calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the “priority now must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict”.
Both the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross said they were preparing to massively scale up their aid operations.
The pact follows months of on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the US backing, and comes just ahead of Trump’s presidential inauguration next week.
‘Constructive step towards peace’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the ceasefire agreement, urging all parties to respect its terms and safeguard a lasting peace.
“Australia welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire and hostage agreement in Gaza after 15 months of conflict and a devastating loss of civilian life,” Albanese said on Thursday in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
“Our thoughts are with all the civilians killed, displaced and taken hostage in this conflict, and the many humanitarian workers who lost their lives in the service of others.
“This agreement is a constructive step towards peace and stability in the region, it must mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
Joint statement on the ceasefire and hostage deal in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/OmxDxJX35L
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 15, 2025
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the agreement in a post on X, as did leaders and officials from the US, United Kingdom, Türkiye, Jordan, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
On his Truth Social media site, Trump said the deal would not have happened if he had not won the US election in November.
Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Qatar along with White House envoys for the talks, and a senior Biden administration official said Witkoff’s presence was critical to reaching a deal after 96 hours of intense negotiations.
Biden said the two teams had “been speaking as one” though Trump’s administration will largely handle implementation of the accord.
The path ahead
The road ahead is complex, with political minefields likely. Israeli hostage families expressed concerns the accord may not be fully implemented and that some hostages may be left behind in Gaza.
Negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal will begin by the 16th day of phase one, and this stage is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The third stage is expected to address the return of all remaining bodies and the start of Gaza’s reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
Trump said he would use the ceasefire deal as momentum to expand the Abraham Accords — a series of US-backed bilateral agreements struck during his first presidency in 2017-2021 that normalised Israel’s relations with several Arab countries.
If all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel must still agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, a formidable challenge involving security guarantees for Israel and many billions of dollars in investment for reconstruction.
Who will run Gaza after the ceasefire?
Israel has rejected any involvement by Hamas, which has governed Gaza since the most recent elections in 2006. But Israel has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas
Source: sbs.com.au
