- Ceasefire to begin on Sunday
- Gazans rejoice on streets
- Hostage families express joy
- 600 aid trucks a day to be allowed into Gaza
- 33 Israeli captives, including civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people to be freed in first phase in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners
HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani announced that the joint mediation efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the US secured a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal between the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.
Addressing a press conference Wednesday, HE Sheikh Mohammed said that the deal will take effect on Sunday, Jan 19. He highlighted that according to this deal Hamas will release 33 hostages, in exchange of Palestinian prisoners, with both negotiating parties agreeing to continue working last night to complete the implementation details.
HE the Prime Minister thanked Egypt and the US for their efforts that contributed to pushing the negotiations forward, pointing out that Qatar, Egypt and the US will work together to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire deal.
He said the deal will lead to the release of Israeli captives as well as Palestinian prisoners and surging humanitarian aid to Gaza, adding he hoped the agreement would pave the way for a permanent end to the fighting.
Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase Qatar's prime minister said.
"In phase one, Hamas will be releasing 33 Israeli captives, including civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people... in return for a number of prisoners who are being held in Israeli prisons," HE Sheikh Mohammed said.
The agreement requires 600 aid trucks a day to be allowed into Gaza.
Negotiators reached a phased deal Wednesday to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, the US and Qatar said, after 15 months of bloodshed that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.
Qatar's Prime Minister called for calm in the Gaza Strip between now and Jan. 19 when a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian group takes effect.
The complex accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and release of hostages by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
At a news conference in Doha, HE Sheikh Mohammed said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps implementing 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," US President Joe Biden said in Washington.
Palestinians celebrated in streets of Gaza — where they have faced an acute humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food, water and fuel.
Families of Israeli hostages and their friends rejoiced at news of the deal in Tel Aviv.
The pact follows months of tortuous, on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the US, and comes just ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also welcomed the agreement in a post on X.
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." In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas had dropped a last-minute demand and there were still a number of unresolved items in the deal. "We hope that the details will be closed tonight," it said in a statement.
Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since October 7 killed nearly 47,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people struggling through the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.
Israel failed to achieve its goals: Hamas
Hamas' acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address Wednesday that Israel failed to achieve its goals in Gaza, shortly after a ceasefire deal was announced.
He also vowed the Palestinian group will neither forgive or forget.
Triumph of Palestinians' steadfastness: Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) hailed the Gaza ceasefire deal as the fruit of Palestinians' steadfastness and valiant resistance for more than 15 months.
A Hamas statement extended thanks to mediators, led by Qatar and Egypt.
Commending the deal as a great achievement for the Palestinian people and the free people of the world, the statement said it marks a turning point in the course of the conflict with the Israeli occupation, and constitutes an important step towards achieving the people's goals of liberation and return.
Acted as one team with Trump: Biden
US President Joe Biden announced yesterday a "full and complete" ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the first part of their peace accord, and said he had acted as "one team" with incoming leader Donald Trump.
A visibly relieved Biden said the negotiations to halt the Gaza conflict had been some of the "toughest" of his career.
"I'm deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come," Biden said in a televised statement.
Gaza deal emerged after intense 96 hours A long-sought Gaza ceasefire deal emerged at the end of an intense 96 hours of negotiations in Doha brokered by US, Egyptian and Qatari diplomats who persuaded Israel and Hamas finally to conclude the agreement.
A senior Biden administration official credited the presence of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, as being critical to reaching the agreement. Leading the US side was President Joe Biden's Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk.
Red Cross 'ready to facilitate' hostage, prisoner releases
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the organisation stood ready to help implement an agreed Gaza ceasefire and facilitate the prisoner and hostage exchanges.
"We are ready to facilitate any release operation as agreed by the parties so that hostages and detainees can return home," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement, adding that the organisation was "also prepared to massively scale up our humanitarian response in Gaza, where the situation demands it".
Priority for easing Gaza suffering: UN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the priority now "must be to ease the tremendous suffering" caused by the war in Gaza.
Guterres described the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave as "catastrophic." "The UN stands ready to support the implementation of this deal and scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians who continue to suffer," he told reporters.
"It is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza so that we can support a major increase in urgent lifesaving humanitarian support," Guterres said.
