Israel has begun implementing a ceasefire deal in Gaza, after it reached an agreement with Hamas for the Palestinian militant group to release all the hostages it holds.
It is the first diplomatic breakthrough after months of failed attempts at stopping the two-year war, which has all but devastated Gaza, left tens of thousands dead and destabilised the Middle East.
The deal came after days of negotiations between the warring sides in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, building on a proposal from US president Donald Trump.
Israel’s cabinet convened late Thursday to approve the agreement in advance of a formal hostage release. Once the government gives its go-ahead, troops are expected to start pulling back from their positions in Gaza.
Mr Trump said he expects hostages to be released on Monday or Tuesday and he is planning to travel to the region to mark the event. That includes a possible visit to Egypt and an address to Israel’s parliament.
“I think it’s going to be a lasting peace, hopefully an everlasting peace. Peace in the Middle East,” said Mr Trump. “Gaza is going to be slowly redone. You have tremendous wealth in that part of the world by certain countries, and just a small part of that, what they make, will do wonders for Gaza.”
Iran-backed Hamas is set to return all of the remaining 48 hostages held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. In return, Israel is due to release almost 2,000 jailed Palestinians and allow a ramp-up of aid to Gaza through United Nations agencies and other international bodies.
Israeli forces will undergo a phased withdrawal from Gaza’s city centres until they reach a buffer zone just within the Palestinian enclave’s border.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist member of Israel’s ruling coalition, said he won’t vote in favour of the deal, but stopped short of threatening to quit the government, signalling it’s likely to pass.
Earlier in the day, Israeli deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel said that a ceasefire was in effect as of Thursday.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose government has long sought the destruction of Hamas, hailed “a national and moral victory for the state of Israel”. He said he had a “very emotional and warm conversation” with Mr Trump in which they congratulated each other on the “historic achievement”.
Hamas triggered the war with an attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting another 250, according to Israel.
More than 67,000 Gazans have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Some 450 Israeli troops have died in combat in Gaza. A panel supported by the UN said Israel was committing genocide, something Mr Netanyahu’s government denies.
The conflict has had ramifications far beyond Gaza, with Israel attacking Iran-backed militias in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Qatar. It also fought a 12-day aerial war against Iran in June, during which the US bombed the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.
There have been regular demonstrations in the US, Europe and Muslim world, with Israel increasingly isolated. Some members of the European Union, Israel’s main trading partner, have called for sanctions against the country. In an interview with Fox, Mr Trump said he told Mr Netanyahu that Israel “cannot fight the world – and he understands that very well”.
Under the ceasefire arrangement, Israel is due to allow more humanitarian aid to enter the Palestinian enclave, where a crisis led a United Nations-backed monitor to declare a famine in parts of the territory.
“We and our partners are prepared to move now,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “We have the expertise, the distribution networks, and community relationships in place to act.”
The overnight agreement and the prospects of peace boosted Israeli assets, with the shekel climbing to a three-year high on Thursday. Israel’s stock market and the country’s sovereign dollar bonds rose.
Crowds gathered in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv – a focal point for Israeli demonstrators calling for their release – to celebrate. There were also celebrations in Gaza, including in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, according to witnesses.
Photographs from Egypt showed Israeli and Qatari negotiators embracing each other, something that would have previously been unthinkable given the tensions between the countries. Less than a month ago, Israel outraged Qatar by trying to assassinate a leading Hamas official with a missile strike on a residential compound in Doha.
The talks in Sharm El-Sheikh are likely to continue over outstanding issues, including the reconstruction and future governance of Gaza. Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu have demanded that Hamas disarm and have no part in governing the territory. The group, designated a terrorist organisation by the US, European Union and others, is yet to agree to that formally.
– Bloomberg
