Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza, with mediators confirming it will take effect on Sunday. The agreement includes the release of hostages held by Hamas during the 15-month conflict that has devastated the Palestinian territory and intensified tensions across the Middle East. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday, following months of negotiations. Trump quickly asserted that he was the driving force behind the deal, while Biden emphasized that it was reached within “the precise contours” of a plan he laid out in late May.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump wrote on social media. “I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” Trump added.
“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,” US President Joe Biden said in Washington.
How Trump impacted the end of war
Marc Champion argues that critics should refrain from speaking too quickly, stating that Trump did influence the outcome, just not in the way people might assume: “It isn’t that he or his foreign policy team came up with a new solution … nor was it Trump’s threat to let all hell break loose,” he writes. Instead, Trump’s impact came from his demand that a deal be reached immediately, pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet to make a choice: “Play ball, or alienate the most amenable leader to themselves and their goals ever elected to the US presidency.”
The deal outlines a phased ceasefire lasting six weeks, during which Israeli forces will gradually withdraw from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have died. In return, Palestinian prisoners held by Israel will be released in exchange for the hostages. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking at a news conference in Doha, confirmed the ceasefire’s implementation on Sunday. Negotiators are coordinating with both Israel and Hamas to finalize the steps for the deal’s execution.
Israeli airstrikes continued
Despite the breakthrough, residents reported that Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza on Wednesday evening, where more than 46,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict, according to local health authorities. Strikes on Gaza City and northern Gaza claimed at least 32 lives, medics said. A Palestinian official involved in the talks stated that mediators are working to secure a halt in hostilities before the ceasefire is set to begin on Sunday.
In Gaza, Palestinians celebrated the news of the deal, taking to the streets to express their joy amid severe shortages of food, water, shelter, and fuel. In Khan Younis, crowds filled the streets, honking horns, waving Palestinian flags, and dancing in celebration.
“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.”
Netanyahu thanks Trump, Biden for Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal
Following the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with both US President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. In these conversations, Netanyahu expressed his gratitude for their support in facilitating the release of hostages. He also reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to securing the release of all hostages and commended President Trump for emphasizing that Gaza must not become a haven for terrorism. Both leaders agreed to meet in Washington soon to further address these issues.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office posted on X, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President-elect Donald Trump and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.” “The Prime Minister made it clear that he is committed to returning all of the hostages however he can and commended the US President-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism. The two decided to meet in Washington soon in order to discuss this and other important issues,” the post added.
Netanyahu also thanked President Biden for his assistance in advancing the hostage deal. “Prime Minister Netanyahu then spoke with US President Joe Biden and thanked him as well for his assistance in advancing the hostages deal,” the post said.
Israel’s ceasefire deal to be voted on Thursday
Israel’s approval of the deal will not be official until it is ratified by the country’s security cabinet and government, with votes scheduled for Thursday, an Israeli official stated.
The agreement is expected to pass despite opposition from hardliners within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who reiterated his criticism of the deal on Wednesday.
Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump for their support, adding that he plans to visit Washington soon. In a statement on social media, Hamas described the ceasefire agreement as “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 tiny 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 arch regional foes Israel and Iran.
Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50. Two American hostages, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, were among those to be released in the first phase, a source said.
The agreement calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio 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 tortuous, on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and comes just ahead of Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the agreement in a post on X as did leaders and officials from Turkey, Britain, the United Nations, Jordan, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Israeli troops entered Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen breached security barriers and attacked Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The assault resulted in the deaths of 1,200 soldiers and civilians and the abduction of over 250 foreign and Israeli hostages, according to Israeli reports. Since then, Israel’s air and ground operations in Gaza have led to over 46,000 deaths, according to the Gaza health ministry. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza are facing severe conditions, enduring the winter in tents and makeshift shelters.