PM announces historic Gaza truce deal

Published: 16 January 2025

Ceasefire deal will take effect on Sunday
Palestinians celebrate in streets of Gaza
President Biden welcomes ceasefire
Hamas hails deal as fruit of valiant resistance

Agencies
Doha

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani announced that the joint mediation efforts of the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States secured a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel.

The historic deal comes after 15 months of bloodshed that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, His Excellency stated that the deal will take effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. He highlighted that Hamas will release 33 hostages, in exchange of Palestinian prisoners, with both negotiating parties agreeing to continue working tonight to complete the implementation details.

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs extended thanks to 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.

“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.

Hamas hailed the deal as the fruit of Palestinians’ steadfastness and valiant resistance for more than 15 months.

AP reports that President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for the ceasefire deal after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months.

The terms of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

According to reports, the proposed deal would involve a six-week initial ceasefire phase

First phase

Over six weeks, 33 of the nearly 100 Israeli hostages are to be reunited with their loved ones after months in captivity with no contact with the outside world, though it is unclear if all are alive.
Israel will release about 2000 Palestinian prisoners during this phase, including 250 prisoners serving life sentences, according to Al Jazeera.

Among the Palestinians being released are around 1000 who were detained after October 7.
Furthermore, Israel will Withdraw its forces from Gaza’s population centres to areas no more than 700 metres inside Gaza’s border with Israel (this may exclude the Netzarim Corridor which the withdrawal from is expected instead to take place in stages)

Allow civilians to return to their homes in the besieged north and allow a surge of aid in – up to 600 trucks per day

Allow wounded Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment

Open the Rafah crossing with Egypt seven days after the start of the implementation of the first phase
Reduce their presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, the border area between Egypt and Gaza, and then withdraw completely in later stages

Second phase

Negotiations will continue during the first stage of the ceasefire deal, with key points understood to have been agreed in principle for now to be finalised.
If the two countries agree the first phase has been completed and conditions have been met for the second, Hamas is reported to release all the remaining living captives, mostly male soldiers, in return for the freeing of more Palestinians held in the Israeli prison system.

Third phase

Again, the details of a third phase remain unclear and negations will continue to finalise points to implement.
According to the draft seen by Al Jazeera, the third phase will see bodies of the remaining captives handed over in return for a three to five-year reconstruction plan of the Gaza Strip to be conducted under international supervision.