Fifteen months after the war in Gaza began with Hamas’s devastating attack on southern Israel, Jerusalem and the Palestinian terror group reached an agreement Wednesday on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The deal was confirmed by officials from Israel, Hamas, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, and was expected to take effect on Sunday, January 19, with the first of the hostages set to be released that day.
Speaking at a press conference from Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed the agreement.
The complex accord, which has not yet been formally announced, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once the deal’s implementation begins, Hamas will gradually release 33 Israeli hostages over the first 42 days of the ceasefire, according to multiple outlets.
The first three hostages are set to be released on the first day, with four more to go free on the seventh day. After that, three hostages are to be released every seven days, with the final 14 to be released in the final week of the first phase.
The rest of the hostages, numbering 65, will only be freed if the sides can agree on a second phase for the truce, negotiations for which will begin some two weeks into the halt in fighting.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Wednesday evening that there were still “a number of clauses” in the deal that had yet to be finally agreed upon, and that Israel hoped that “the details will be finalized tonight.”
Channel 12 said talks were expected to continue throughout the night to nail down those final issues, so that a signing could take place Thursday.
According to reports in Hebrew media, Israel’s security cabinet was set to meet at 11 a.m. Thursday to officially approve the deal. Though several hardline members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition oppose the agreement, he is expected to have no trouble getting majority approval in the cabinet.
After that, lists of Palestinian security prisoners set to be freed will be published, to enable petitions to the High Court against their release by interested parties. However, the court has not intervened in such government decisions in the past and is highly unlikely to do so this time.
Detailing unconfirmed elements of the deal, Channel 12 noted that the list of the 33 hostages to be returned in the first phase comprises four female civilians, five female soldiers, as well as Shiri Bibas and her two small sons Ariel and baby Kfir, 10 men aged 50 and over, and 11 infirm men.
Hamas has said not all 33 are alive, but has yet to say who is not. Israel believes most of the 33 are alive. According to Channel 12, Hamas is obligated under the agreement to inform Israel as to the status of all 33 within the first week of the deal’s implementation.
The TV report added that over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners will be freed in return for the 33, including at least 250 terrorists “with blood on their hands.”
Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage release agreement to halt more than a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip, President Biden and Qatar's prime minister announced separately on Wednesday. The deal comes after a week of intense negotiations mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt.
"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," Mr. Biden said in a written statement. "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."
Speaking from the White House Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Biden said, "There was no other way for this war to end than with a hostage deal, and I'm deeply satisfied this day has finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel, and for the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war."
The deal is expected to take effect Sunday.
As news of the agreement broke, crowds gathered in Deir al Bala in Gaza, and celebratory gunfire was heard.
"I'm extremely happy," one young Palestinian woman in the Gaza city of Khan Younis CBS News. "The past 15 months I experienced tears, laughters, lost martyrs and people went into prison, but finally I feel the joy."
"I am very happy, and today is the day I wished to hear about since the beginning of the war," an elderly man said. "God is sending us hope," he added.
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