Israeli forces have fully withdrawn from the besieged enclave, a ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza, and all hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group during its historic attack on the Jewish nation in October 2023 have been released, according to US President Joe Biden. “Israel and Hamas have achieved a truce and hostage agreement today, following months of intense diplomacy by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. After more than 15 months in captivity, this agreement will end the conflict in Gaza, provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian residents, and return the hostages to their families,” Biden told reporters at the Oval Office late Wednesday.
The six-week initial agreement which will come into effect on January 19 will see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and release of the Hamas-held hostagesin exchange for Palestinian prisoners taken into custody by Israel. According to Biden, the peace agreement has been organized into three stages and includes a six-week preliminary ceasefire period, a systematic withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and an exchange of hostages held by the parties involved. The departing president affirmed that the United States will assist in the initial step of the agreement to free the hostages. “During the next six weeks, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get (to) phase two, which is a permanent end to the war,” he stated.
Seven days after the start of the first phase of the agreement, Israel has agreed to open the Rafah crossing with Egypt and permit injured Palestinians to leave Gaza for medical treatment. Although they have been agreed upon in principle, the first phase will be used to negotiate the second and third phases. Even if talks for the second phase run beyond the first six weeks, US President Joe Biden has stated that the ceasefire will remain in place. In exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, Hamas will release all other captives, mostly male soldiers, in the second phase, provided certain conditions are met. Israel would also start to leave Gaza entirely.
The bodies of the remaining prisoners would be returned by Hamas in the third phase. In exchange, a three- to five-year plan for Gaza’s rehabilitation would be put into action under international oversight. “My administration drafted and negotiated this agreement, but the next administration will mostly carry out its provisions. We have been communicating as a single team for the last few days,” Biden stated. Following months of ceasefire and negotiating discussions spearheaded by Egypt and Qatar with US backing, the truce was reached. It’s interesting that the agreement was reached just days before Donald Trump, the US president-elect, was sworn in for a second term.
Quoting Hamas, news agency Reuters further reported that the Palestinian militant group’s delegation had forwarded approval for the ceasefire deal and release of hostages.
In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the agreement “an achievement for our people” and “a turning point”.
Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he thanked both Biden and US President-elect Donald Trump for the breakthrough, adding that he would visit Washington soon.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that prior to publicly approving the ceasefire agreement and parameters for the return of hostages as agreed upon in Qatar, Hamas had verbally agreed to them. Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, announced that he was returning to Israel from a trip to Europe in the middle of the conflict so that he could be present for the government and security cabinet votes on the ceasefire deal with Hamas. After Hamas militants stormed into Israeli neighborhoods on October 7, 2023, destroying security obstacles in their path and murdering almost 12,000 troops and civilians, Israel launched its invasion of Gaza. The insurgents also captured about 250 people during the assault.
The Gaza health ministry claims that, since October 2023, more than 46,000 people have been killed over the course of the Israeli campaign in Gaza, while hundreds of thousands have been forced to live in tents and makeshift rehabilitation camps.
In addition to threatening “hell to pay” if the hostages were not returned, US President-elect Donald Trump has called for the Israel-Hamas peace to be terminated as soon as possible. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s ambassador to the Middle East, worked closely with outgoing President Joe Biden and held lengthy discussions to finalize the agreement. With Iran-backed proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, assaulting Israeli interests in both nations, the entire Middle East was on the verge of a full-scale conflict throughout the 15-month conflict. In contrast, Israel killed a number of senior Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi leaders.