Source : the age
By Michael Koziol
Washington: A ceasefire and hostage deal has been agreed between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of warfare that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and set off a new chapter of turmoil in the Middle East.
US President Joe Biden has confirmed a three-phase deal, similar to one he put forward in May, which will begin with a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, starting with women, the elderly and the wounded.
Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.Credit: AP
Israel will also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said, and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The second phase, to begin in six weeks, would be “a permanent end to the war” – but if negotiations to that end took longer than six weeks, “the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue”.
In the third phase, the final remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza would begin.
“The road to this deal has not been easy,” Biden said. “I’ve worked in foreign policy for decades. This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced.” He added the deal was only possible because of the degradation of Hamas and its allies achieved by Israel and the US.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani announced the agreement in the Qatari capital of Doha, the site of weeks of painstaking negotiations. He said the deal would go into effect on Sunday and clear the way for dozens of Israeli hostages to go home.
Protesters calling for the return of hostages held in the Gaza Strip react in Tel Aviv after a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was reached.Credit: Getty Images
Before other officials publicly confirmed the ceasefire, US President-elect Donald Trump – whose envoy worked with Biden’s team on the deal – got ahead of the announcement on his Truth Social website.
“We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly,” Trump posted at midday Wednesday (4am Thursday AEDT). He went on to claim the deal would not have been possible without his victory in the November election. “We have achieved so much without even being in the White House,” he wrote.
Biden praised senior members of his administration including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and CIA director Bill Burns for their work on the deal over many months. When one reporter asked Biden whether he or Trump should get more credit for the outcome, Biden – who had been walking away from the podium – turned around and said: “Is that a joke?”
Despite Biden’s announcement that a deal had been reached “at long last”, a statement moments earlier from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office indicated there were still unresolved issues. It said it hoped “details will be finalised tonight”. Any agreement also needs to be approved by Netanyahu’s cabinet.
US President Joe Biden, centre, with Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, announces details of the Gaza ceasefire deal.Credit: AP
Others, including Democratic senator from Delaware Chris Coons, also urged caution. “Until all parties confirm that this is moving ahead, we should not get ahead of ourselves,” he told CBS before Biden’s announcement.
While Biden said details about numbers were still forthcoming, several US and global media agencies reported that 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be released during the initial, six-week phase of the deal.
The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and came just ahead of Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
Hamas, Gaza’s dominant Palestinian militant group, told Reuters its delegation had handed mediators its approval for the ceasefire agreement and return of hostages.
Palestinians walk through the destruction in the wake of an Israeli air and ground offensive in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, last week.Credit: AP
A Palestinian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters earlier that Hamas had given verbal approval to the ceasefire and hostage return proposal under negotiation in Qatar and was waiting for more information to give final written approval.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was cutting a visit to Europe short and flying back to Israel overnight to take part in security cabinet and government votes on the deal likely on Thursday.
Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 soldiers and civilians and abducting more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures, and left the coastal enclave a wasteland of rubble with hundreds of thousands surviving the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.
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. His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff worked with Biden’s team to push the deal over the line.
In Israel, the return of the hostages may ease some of the public anger against Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the October 7 security failure that led to the deadliest single day in the country’s history.
The conflict spread across the Middle East, with Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. The deal comes after Israel killed the top leaders of Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in assassinations which gave it the upper hand.
with Reuters, AP
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