Qatar PM confirms Israel, Hamas reach Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal

Qatar's prime minister said Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza starting on Sunday and a hostage and prisoner exchange after 15 months of war.

"The two belligerents in the Gaza Strip have reached a deal on the prisoner and the hostage swap, and (the mediators) announce a ceasefire in the hopes of reaching a permanent ceasefire between the two sides," Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told a press conference.

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

Negotiations on implementing the second phase will begin by the 16th day of phase one and it is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

A man waves Palestinian flags as Palestinians react to news on a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025. Reuters

The third phase is expected to address the return of all remaining bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.

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

"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," U.S. President Joe Biden said in Washington.

Palestinians celebrated in the streets of Gaza - where they have faced an acute humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food, water, and fuel.

"I am happy, yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy," said Ghada, a displaced mother of five.

Families of Israeli hostages and their friends rejoiced at news of the deal in Tel Aviv.

"We, the families of 98 hostages, welcome with overwhelming joy and relief the agreement to bring our loved ones home," the hostage families' group said in a statement.

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 the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Palestinians react as they wait for news of a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025. Reuters

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also welcomed the agreement in a post on X.

If successful, the planned phased ceasefire would halt fighting that has reduced much of heavily urbanized Gaza to ruin and displaced most of the tiny enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million. The death toll is still rising daily.

Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children, and men over 50.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the accord was "a great gain." The group, Gaza's dominant Palestinian militant power, told Reuters its delegation had handed mediators its approval for the ceasefire agreement and return of hostages.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas had dropped a last-minute demand, and several unresolved items remained in the deal. "We hope the details will be closed tonight," it said.

Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since October 7, 2023, killed over 46,000 people, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people struggling through the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.

Its offensive comes following Hamas’ cross-border raid, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians, and taking 250 captives.

Massive task of reconstruction

If all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel still must agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, a formidable challenge involving security guarantees for Israel and billions of dollars in investment for rebuilding.

One unanswered question is who will run Gaza after the war.

Israel has rejected any involvement by Hamas, which had ruled Gaza since 2007, but it has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.

Palestinians react to news on a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025. Reuters

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was cutting a visit to Europe short and flying home overnight to take part in security cabinet and government votes on the deal – meaning the votes would likely be by or on Thursday.

As his inauguration approached, Trump repeated his demand that a deal be done swiftly, warning repeatedly that there would be "hell to pay" if the hostages were not released by the time he took office. His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff worked with President Joe Biden's team to push the deal over the line.

Supporters of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, attend a protest to demand a deal to bring every hostage home at once, amid Gaza ceasefire negotiations, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 15, 2025.Reuters

In Israel, the return of the hostages may ease some of the public anger against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the Oct. 7 security failure that led to the deadliest single day in the country's history.

Gaza's conflict spilled over across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen targeting Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The deal emerged a few months after Israel eliminated the top leaders of Hamas and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah in assassinations that gave it the upper hand.