Washington: A ceasefire and hostage deal has been agreed between Israel and Hamas, Qatar’s prime minister has announced, after 15 months of warfare that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and inflamed tensions in the Middle East.
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.
The first phase of the agreement, to be implemented over six weeks, would involve the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of dozens of prisoners held by Israel, as well as additional aid being allowed into war-torn Gaza, according to several US and global news agencies.
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
Officials were due to confirm the deal at a press conference in Qatar, which has hosted ceasefire negotiations, and US President-elect Donald Trump – whose envoy worked with President Joe 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.
However, a statement 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.
The ceasefire was also announced during a confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, in Washington. Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, told proceedings: “For the edification of the committee I’ve just been advised there’s been a ceasefire deal announced in Gaza. Before we all celebrate, though, obviously we’re all going to want to see how that executes.”
The Biden administration was yet to confirm the ceasefire agreement, but US media reported an official saying it would take effect immediately. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer also posted on X that it was welcome news and could not have happened “without steadfast diplomacy and until the potency of Hamas was radically reduced”.
