Israel and Hamas agree to hostage release, Gaza cease-fire deal after 15 months of war: reports
Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and free dozens of Israeli hostages, who endured more than 15 months of captivity, officials say.
The breakthrough deal, which was reached after an intense 96 hours of negotiations and met with celebrations in the streets of Israel and Gaza, will create a 42-day cease-fire starting Jan. 19 in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
So far, only a six-week pause has been agreed — setting up more tough negotiations between Israel and the terror group over the release of all 60 living hostages and a permanent withdrawal of Israeli forces.
President-elect Donald Trump, who had warned that there would be “hell to pay” if an agreement was not reached before his inauguration next week, took credit for the breakthrough in negotiations.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” he added.
Trump has tapped his special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, to monitor the situation in Gaza and ensure all the hostages are released.
Witkoff has been credited with being the key figure to finally push the three-phase deal over the line — something the Biden administration has been trying to do since May 2024.?
Here’s how the proposed three phases would work out, according to a current draft obtained by news outlets:<br>
Phase 1
- The first phase will halt fighting for 42 days with?33 Israeli hostages?incrementally freed from captivity in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
- On the first day, Hamas released three hostages, which will lead to weekly releases during the initial six-week period.
- Israel will let 30 Palestinians go in exchange for every civilian hostage freed from Gaza, and 50 Palestinian prisoners, for every female Israeli soldier released.
- Israeli forces will pull back, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
Phase 2
- If Israel and Hamas reach a further agreement, all remaining hostages are supposed to be freed and in return Israel will completely withdraw from Gaza during this phase.
- Hamas needs to agree to remove itself from power — something it has hinted it is willing to do — but could still be a factor in a future government, which Israel does not want.
- While the draft agreement states a second phase deal must be reached by the end of phase one, Hamas had called for written guarantees that the temporary peace could continue until an agreement is struck.
Phase 3
- The third – and final phase — would entail Hamas trading the bodies of the rest of the remaining hostages in Gaza in return for a 3- to 5-year rebuilding plan in the decimated Palestinian territory under international supervision.
“Witkoff was able to pressure [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu into accepting the deal and moving quickly. It’s that conversation that shifted everything into motion,” one senior Biden official told Reuters of Witkoff’s meeting with the Israeli leader last week.
Prior to Witkoff’s meeting, President Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, described the talks as a “very complex arrangement” that was still incomplete.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was the united efforts of envoys for both Trump and Biden united that got the deal through.
“[The Trump team] has been absolutely critical in getting this [hostage] deal over the line,” Miller told reporters Wednesday.
Along with Witkoff’s pressure, the deal also gained momentum after months of stagnation following the cease-fire deal with Hezbollah in late November.
Hezbollah had been attacking Israel since the day after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks in solidarity with Hamas. With Hamas’ ally standing down — following Israeli’s assassination of nearly the entire top leadership of Hezbollah and the invasion of southern Lebanon — Hamas officials began accelerating the talks in December, officials said.
Hezbollah had been attacking Israel since the day after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks in solidarity with Hamas. With Hamas’ ally standing down — following Israel’s assassination of nearly the entire top leadership of Hezbollah and the invasion of southern Lebanon — Hamas officials began accelerating the talks in December, officials said.
The talks were also buoyed by the fact that Hamas has lost nearly all of its military leaders since the war began, including its top political chief Ismail Haniyeh and his successor, Gaza chief and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
Despite the concession made, Hamas’ top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya called the deal an “achievement” and said Oct. 7 would remain “a source of pride,” for the terror group.
Three Americans are among the living hostages, Edan Alexander, 20; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; and Keith Siegel, 65. Biden said he expects them to be among the first captives freed.
Biden, who refused to give Trump any credit over the deal in remarks on Wednesday, said that the US citizens would be among those released as part of the deal.
“This has been a time of real turmoil in the Middle East, but as I prepare to leave office, our friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and those are genuine opportunities for a new future,” Biden said.
US Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the cease-fire was key to permanently ending the war in Gaza and reuniting the families separated on Oct. 7, 2023.
“A ceasefire is very good news for Israel, for America, for the Palestinian people, and particularly for the hostage families who have waited so long in agony,” he wrote on X.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also gave his thanks to the US, Egypt and Qatar for brokering the deal and hitting a pause on the bloodshed.
“This deal is a critical first step, but we must mobilize all efforts to also advance broader goals, including the preservation of the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” he said in a statement.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid echoed the praise to mediators and said the “entire country is holding its breath” as it waits for the hostages to return.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also praised the deal as she also lamented the death of slain New Yorker Omer Neutra, whose body remains in Gaza.
“Our goal is to get them home, back in the arms of their families who’ve been desperately seeking their arrival,” Hochul said.
The agreement — which will involve three phases — needs to be formally ratified by the Israeli cabinet and the government, who will convene on Thursday morning local time, officials said.
The cease-fire would then take effect immediately if finalized, a White House official told the New York Times.
First wave of hostage exchanges
During the initial phase of the cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in jails.
The initial wave of hostages would include women, children, men over 50, and those who were wounded and sick.
It remains unclear who will be among those released, but it would finally shed light on the status of some of the hostages, including the Bibas toddlers, who Hamas claimed are dead but has yet to provide any confirmation.
It has remained a point of contention during the negotiations on whether some of the dead would be included in the first wave of exchanges, a condition Hamas has previously pushed for.
Biden said that the American hostages will be included in this first phase, but he did provide further details.
A tentative list indicates that Siegel and Dekel-Chen are on the list to be freed in the first six weeks, CNN first reported. Alexander, an IDF soldier, will likely have to wait longer to be freed.
In exchange, Hamas said it expects Israel to release 1,000 prisoners who were arrested on Oct. 8, 2023, but were not involved in the terror attack.
The first day of the cease-fire is expected to see the freedom of three hostages as a sign of goodwill and compliance.
After that, another four hostages will be released on the seventh day of the cease-fire, with further releases happening every week as agreed to by both parties.
“We are deeply grateful that there is finally an agreement between Israel and Hamas to bring our loved ones,” the family of the American’s held hostage in Gaza said in a statement.
“We have been waiting for 467 days while our family members suffer from life-threatening injuries, abuse, torture, and sexual violence. We thank President Biden, President-elect Trump, and their teams for their constructive efforts to make this possible,” the group added.
Israel to withdraw troops
During the first phase, Israel has also agreed to pull its soldiers back from the frontlines and into a buffer zone about half a mile wide at the border between Gaza and Israel.
Israel has also compromised and agreed to withdraw from the so-called Netzarim Corridor that had blocked off access to northern Gaza, with IDF troops set to leave the area by the 22nd day of the cease-fire.
In exchange, Hamas has dropped its demand that Israel should leave the Philadelphi Corridor, the strip of territory along Gaza’s border with Egypt, including the Rafah Crossing.
The deal would allow more than a million displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, most of which have been destroyed by the intense fighting.
The agreement also calls for humanitarian aid deliveries to increase across Gaza with hundreds of new trucks carrying food, medicine, fuel, and other supplies to ease the humanitarian crisis.
The next phase of the war
Should the first phase be completed, Hamas and Israel will continue the cease-fire to negotiate the terms to release all the remaining living hostages in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
The terms of the second phase remain the most contentious as Israel has repeatedly said it would not leave the Gaza Strip until Hamas is completely eradicated.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who claimed on Monday to have sunk previous deals over this condition, has called on Netanyahu and the security cabinet to vote against ratifying the cease-fire deal.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who Gvir asked for help in halting the latest deal, suggested he would resign rather than accept the terms of the cease-fire.
The terror group has said it would not release every hostage until it sees proof that Israel is out of all sectors of the Palestinian territory.
Should Israel and Hamas reach an agreement on the second phase, the war will end with the bodies of the remaining hostages returned in exchange for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan to rebuild Gaza.
The reconstruction would be carried out under international supervision, with the future governance of Gaza still in the air as Israel maintains that Hamas can no longer be the de facto leader of the territory.
With Post wires