Joy in the streets of Gaza as Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire
15th January 2025
Besieged Palestinians celebrate as truce announced by mediators after 15 months of war
THERE is joy in the streets of Gaza tonight, as Israel and Hamas announce the two parties have agreed to a ceasefire, after 15 months of war.
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the deal would come into effect on Sunday, pending details being finalised by the Israeli cabinet.
The agreement is to halt - and raises the hope of an end to - a brutal war that has become the deadliest chapter in the decades-long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Over 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military response to October 7, when a group of Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment of the coastal strip over the past year and a quarter has left the enclave in ruins, most of the 2.3m population displaced - and suffering severe food shortages - and has pushed the Middle East to the brink of a full-blown regional war.
As part of the ceasefire deal, Israel will allow a surge in much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite hostages with their families, US President Joe Biden said.
Previous attempts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to broker a deal to end the conflict and secure the release of the 98 remaining hostages - not all of whom are alive - has repeatedly foundered when Israel and Hamas refused to make necessary concessions.
But the re-election of Trump - who threatened there would be “hell to pay” if no hostage deal was reached before his inauguration - added pressure on the long-stalled talks.
The president-elect was among the first leaders to hail the deal on Wednesday, writing on his Truth Social platform ahead of the formal announcement: “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY.”
He added that his national security team would “continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”
In comments praising the deal, outgoing US president Joe Biden described the Doha-based peace process as “one of the toughest negotiations I have ever experienced.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli prime minister has spoken to Trump on Wednesday night, thanking him for his help in advancing the release of the hostages, and adding the two have agreed to meet soon in Washington.
The statement added Netanyahu was “committed to returning all of the hostages, however he can.” Netanyahu's critics, however, have accused the Israeli prime minister of prolonging the war so as to keep himself in power and avoid being held accountable on corruption charges - allegations he denies.
A source close to the talks said the deal had been achieved after the Qatari prime minister had met Hamas and Israeli negotiators separately in a final push for an agreement.
Far-right Israeli ministers, including national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, have expressed opposition to the deal, threatening to bring down Netanyahu’s fragile coalition government if it goes ahead.
Smotrich said on Wednesday night that the ceasefire agreement was “bad and dangerous”, and that his party would only remain in government if it was possible for Israel to resume the war.
However, it is not expected that the two Israeli ministers will be able to block the deal.
The ceasefire agreement on the table is to have three phases. The first six-week phase will see 33 hostages - including women, children, and elderly people - exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east away from the densely populated areas of Gaza; displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to what is left of their homes; and hundreds of aid lorries will be allowed into the territory each day.
Negotiations for the second phase - which should see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal, and a return to “sustainable calm” - will start by the 16th day.
The third and final stage of the deal will involve the reconstruction of Gaza - which will, it is estimated, take years - and see the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies.
Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar, the US, and Egypt would work together to ensure Israel and Hamas fulfilled their obligations.
US President Joe Biden said: “Even as we welcome the news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’ 7 October attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed.
“It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin.” The ceasefire deal is almost identical to a plan put forward by Biden in May 2024.
Hamas’ chief negotiator and acting Gaza representative, Khalil al-Hayya, said the agreement represented “a milestone in the conflict with the enemy, on the path to achieving our people’s goals of liberation and return.”
The organisation, he added, would now seek to “rebuild Gaza again, alleviate the pain, heal the wounds.” But he also warned, “we will not forget, we will not forgive” the suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.
Abu Shukri, a community organiser sheltering in the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, said people in the neighbourhood had lined the streets and balconies in anticipation of the announcement of the ceasefire deal.
As news reached them, people shouted with joy and shot the air in celebration.
Pictures seen by the BBC showed people cheering and waving Palestinian flags in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah and southern city of Khan Younis.
Sanabel, a 17 year-old girl living to the north in Gaza City, said: “All of us are delighted. We have been waiting for this [moment] for a long time. Finally, I will put my head on my pillow without worrying [...] it is time to heal.”
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the “priority now must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict.”
