DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.
The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and to allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It would also flood desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory ravaged by 15 months of war, mediators said. The U.S. government designates Hamas as a terrorist group.
The prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the ceasefire would go into effect Sunday and that its success would depend on Israel and Hamas "acting in good faith in order to ensure that this agreement does not collapse.” He spoke in the Qatari capital of Doha, the site of weeks of painstaking negotiations.
U.S. President Joe Biden touted the deal from Washington, saying the ceasefire would stay in place as long as Israel and Hamas remain at the negotiating table over a long-term truce. Biden credited months of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” for landing the deal, noting that his administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s team had been “speaking as one” in the latest negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement with Hamas was still not complete and final details were being worked out.
An Israeli official familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity said those details center on confirming the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed. Any agreement must be approved by Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Netanyahu thanked Trump and Biden for “advancing” the ceasefire agreement, but did not explicitly say whether he has accepted it, saying he would issue a formal response only “after the final details of the agreement, which are currently being worked on, are completed.”
Early Thursday morning, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement accusing Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners accused of murder would be released. Netanyahu said he told the negotiators to stand firm on the earlier agreement.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. are to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the deal, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Once the first phase of the deal takes effect, it is expected to deliver an initial six-week halt to fighting along with the opening of negotiations on ending the war altogether.
Over those six weeks, 33 of the nearly 100 hostages are to be reunited with their loved ones after months in captivity with no contact with the outside world, though it’s unclear if all are alive.
It remained unclear exactly when and how many displaced Palestinians would be able to return to their homes, and whether the agreement would lead to a complete end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza — key Hamas demands for releasing the remaining captives.
Many longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border terror attack, which killed some 1,200 in Israel and took 250 others hostage.
More than 100 hostages were freed from Gaza in a weeklong truce in November 2023.
The U.S., along with Egypt and Qatar, have brokered months of indirect talks between the bitter enemies that finally culminated in this latest deal. It comes after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November, after more than a year of conflict linked to the war in Gaza.
In Israel, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, calling for a deal to be completed. Many held posters of hostages, others hoisted candles in the air.
As the deal was announced, some people were unaware it had gone through. Sharone Lifschitz, whose father Oded is being held in Gaza, told the AP by phone she was stunned and grateful but won’t believe it until she sees all the hostages come home.
“I’m so desperate to see them, if by some miracle my father has survived,” she said.
The Hostage Families Forum, which has long pressed Israeli leaders to make a deal that would bring the captives home, said it welcomed Wednesday's announcement with joy and relief.
“After 460 days of our family members being held in Hamas tunnels, we are closer than ever to reuniting with our loved ones,” it said in a statement.
Israeli authorities have already concluded that more than a third of the roughly 100 remaining people held captive are dead, and there are fears that others are no longer alive. A series of videos released by Hamas showing surviving hostages in distress, combined with news that a growing number of abducted Israelis have died, put added pressure on the Israeli leader.