Hamas - Israel Agrees Ceasefire From Sunday

JAKARTA - Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire starting Sunday, according to mediators, including the release of hostages detained since the conflict broke out 15 months ago.

This elaborate gradual agreement outlines an initial six-week ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of people have been killed.

The hostages held by the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.

At a press conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday.

Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas to implement the deal, he said.

"This agreement will stop fighting in Gaza, increase the humanitarian aid much needed for Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months," US President Joe Biden said in Washington.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said mediators were trying to stop the two sides from becoming hostile before the ceasefire began on Sunday.

Palestinians responded to the news about the deal by celebrating on Gaza's streets, where they face a shortage of severe food, water, shelter, and fuel. In Khan Younis, crowds crowded the streets amid the horns as they cheered, waved the Palestinian flag, and danced.

"I am happy. Yes, I cry, but it is the tears of happiness," said Ghada, a mother of five who fled.

In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact "an achievement for our people" and "a turning point."

In Tel Aviv, the Israeli hostages' family and their friends rejoiced at the news, saying in a statement they felt "extraordinary joy and relief (on) of the deal to bring home our loved ones."

Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, with a vote scheduled for Thursday, an Israeli official said.

However, the deal is expected to be approved despite opposition from some of the hardlines in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who repeated his criticism of the agreement on Wednesday.

PM Netanyahu called President Biden and US President-elect Donald Trump to thank him and said he would soon visit Washington, his office said.

This agreement is the fruit of months of attempts by mediators consisting of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, to end conflicts with indirect negotiations.

If successful, the ceasefire would halt the fighting that has devastated much of Gaza's densely populated territory and displaced most of the small enclave's 2.3 million people before the war.

That is expected to ease tensions across the wider Middle East, the wargrounds have sparked conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, and raised fears of an all-out war between Israel's regional arch-enemy and Iran.

The first phase of the deal includes the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children, and men over 50 years old. Two American hostages, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, were among those to be released in the first phase, a source said.

The deal calls for a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressing "the priority now is to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict."

Both the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross said they were preparing to increase their relief operations on a large scale.

Negotiations to carry out the second phase of the deal will begin on the first 16th day, and this stage is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, permanent ceasefire, and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The third stage is expected to discuss the repatriation of all the remaining bodies and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza supervised by Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.

If all goes well, Palestine, Arab countries and Israel still have to agree to the vision for postwar Gaza, a tough challenge involving security guarantees for Israel and billions of dollars in investment for reconstruction.

One unanswered question is, who will lead Gaza after the war?

Israel rejects any involvement by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and has officially vowed to destroy Israel. However, Israel is almost equally opposed to the government of the Palestinian Authority, the body formed under Oslo's provisional peace agreement three decades ago, which has restricted the rule of government in the West Bank.

The latest conflict in Gaza broke out on October 15, 2023, when the Hamas-led Palestinian militant group attacked Israel's southern region, leaving 1,200 people dead and 250 others hostage, according to Israeli calculations.

Yesterday, medical authorities in Gaza confirmed that the death toll from Palestine since the conflict broke out has reached 46,707 people and 110,265 injured, the majority of children and women, quoted from WAFA.