Negotiators reach a ceasefire and hostage agreement in Gaza

Negotiators announced on Wednesday that they had reached a ceasefire agreement in the war in the Gaza Strip, after 15 months of calm. The devastating Hamas-led attack on Israeli territory has unleashed a relentless military campaign unparalleled in modern history.

In the attack that launched it all, the October 7, 2023 raid on southern Israel led by Hamas militants, some 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, stunning Israelis. In the months that followed, an estimated 45,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, many of them civilians as well, and entire towns were leveled.

On Wednesday, Gazans allowed themselves hope for the end of long months of hunger, destruction and fear, while Israelis anxiously prepared to welcome dozens of men and women held hostage by Hamas during the 2023 offensive.

Under conditions Temporary dealreached in the final days of the Biden administration, the Israeli army will begin withdrawing its force and Hamas will begin releasing some hostages taken during the bloody raid that sparked the war. If the Israeli Cabinet approves the ceasefire, it will go into effect on Sunday.

“An entire country is holding its breath tonight,” said Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist opposition in Israel, where the government is expected to vote on the agreement on Thursday.

Hamas said in a statement: “This is a historic moment in the conflict with our enemy.” He praised the “legendary resilience” of the people of Gaza in the face of the war that unleashed a humanitarian crisis. One of the group’s leaders also praised the Hamas-led attack that led to the war, despite the bitter price the Palestinians paid.

Even amid warnings that some details of the agreement have yet to be worked out, celebrations broke out on Wednesday in both Gaza and Israel.

“Praise be to God, this tragedy has ended,” said Muhammad Fares (24 years old), a resident of Gaza City, while festive sounds and gunfire were heard in the background.

But in devastated Gaza, which bears no resemblance to the enclave that existed before Israel launched a large-scale offensive aimed at destroying Hamas forever, sadness and anxiety, not joy, remain the prevailing sentiment among Palestinians.

“How can we rebuild?” asked Susan Abu Daqqa, who lives in a suburb near the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. “Where do we even start?”

In Israel, the hostages’ families issued a statement declaring their “overwhelming joy and relief” over the deal, but also expressing their “deep concern and fears” that some hostages might be left behind. Of the approximately 250 people detained in Israel on October 7, 2023, about 100 remain in Gaza; It is believed that about a third died in captivity.

Even as the tentative ceasefire was celebrated, some seemed to do their best not to overestimate what could be achieved. In announcing the deal, Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, spoke of “sustainable calm.”

However, the agreement was a major breakthrough after months of volatile talks that often appeared to be approaching a solution, only to collapse. President Biden’s administration has been pushing for a truce as his time in office runs out.

“Too many innocent people have died, too many communities have been destroyed,” an excited Biden told reporters at a news conference.

His successor, President-elect Donald J. Trump, has done so He threatened with dire consequences Unless Israel and Hamas reach an agreement before his inauguration on January 20, which is what Biden has proposed The White House had consulted with Trump’s team About conversations.

“We are handing the next team a real opportunity for a brighter future in the Middle East,” he said. “I hope they take it.”

After months of stalemate, negotiations moved to their highest levels in recent days in Doha, the Qatari capital, which accelerated with Trump’s impending inauguration. American officials from both the outgoing and incoming administrations led Latest efforts to reach an agreementWith Qatar and Egypt playing the role of mediator between Hamas and Israel.

The ceasefire will be in several stages, the first stage lasting six weeks. During that period, Israeli forces in Gaza will withdraw to the east, away from populated areas, and about 33 hostages will be released, Al-Thani said. In return, Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel will be released.

Among the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase are women, children, men over the age of 50, and the sick or wounded. It is not yet clear how many people from that group are still alive, but Israeli officials estimate that most of them are still alive.

During the first phase, 600 trucks carrying urgently needed humanitarian relief materials will enter Gaza daily. Gazans who were forced to leave their homes will be able to return to the north, where the Israeli invasion began.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza have been living in tents, temporary shelters, rented homes and their relatives’ apartments for more than a year. Many who plan to return to the north will likely find their homes and neighborhoods destroyed.

By the 16th, negotiations will begin on the second phase of the deal – also lasting six weeks – with a focus on further exchanges of Palestinian hostages and prisoners.

The ceasefire agreement has yet to pass the Israeli Cabinet, where some far-right lawmakers whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on to remain in power have publicly opposed the agreement.

Amid reports of the possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement, the far-right member of the coalition, Itamar Ben Gvir, issued a statement. Video statement Calling on others to unite efforts and thwart any agreement by withdrawing from the Netanyahu government.

Another far-right government member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, described the agreement as “bad and dangerous to Israeli national security” and said he completely opposed it. But he did not explicitly threaten to leave the government.

Netanyahu’s critics, including many of the hostages’ families, have often accused him of sabotaging previous efforts to reach an agreement in order to preserve his coalition, which is the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he believed a majority would sign an agreement in a cabinet vote. “Leadership is about making a decision between a bad decision and a very bad decision,” Saar said, adding of the hostages: “If we postpone the decision, we don’t know how many of them will survive.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the government to approve the deal. He said: “There is no greater moral, humanitarian, Jewish or Israeli obligation than to return our sons and daughters to us – whether to recover at home, or for burial.”

On Wednesday, in the absence of a ceasefire, Gaza Civil Defense reported continuing Israeli airstrikes across the Strip, including a strike on a residential building in northern Gaza City that it said killed two people.

Over the past year, fighting in Gaza, coupled with post-invasion chaos, have presented significant obstacles to aid distribution. On Wednesday, as humanitarian groups prepared to pour into the stricken enclave, they made it clear that it would not be easy – even with a ceasefire.

“This is a moment of hope and opportunity,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. “But we should not imagine how difficult it is to get support for survivors.”

He contributed to the preparation of the reports Yazbek error, Abu Bakr Bashir, Jonathan Rees, Rawan Sheikh Ahmed, Ismail L and Efrat Livni.