The Israeli government and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage release agreement after more than a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip. The deal had been reached following the Qatari prime minister’s meeting with Hamas negotiators, and separately with Israeli negotiators in his office, and will lead to the phased release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, sources told CNN.
Per ABC News, intense negotiations have been underway in Doha for the past few weeks, with delegations from both Israel and Hamas were dispatched to Doha to resume the negotiations, which were brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. President Biden’s top Middle East advisor, Brett McGurk, staying in the region for the better part of a month. McGurk has been closely coordinating with President-elect Trump’s pick for special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Mr. Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Sunday about the negotiations.
The deal comes after a week of intense negotiations mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt. Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the deal will take effect Sunday. Under the phased agreement, Israeli forces would withdraw to the Gaza border, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and for the transfer of hostages and prisoners. Large amounts of humanitarian aid would be shipped to the enclave and hospitals and health care centers would be rebuilt. Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for 100 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, according to a portion of the deal shared by Hamas. Israel will also release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were not involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, and an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners will also be released abroad or in Gaza.
President Biden said in a statement that the ceasefire deal took “many months of intensive diplomacy” by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, adding that “my diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.” Later in a press conference, Biden said he was “deeply satisfied this day has finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza, who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.”
Biden also noted that his team and the incoming Trump administration’s spoke as “one team” in negotiating the ceasefire deal reached Wednesday: “this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. In these past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team. 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.”
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