Hamas and Israel reached a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza that mediators said would take effect on Sunday and include a release of hostages held there during 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the Palestinian enclave and inflamed the Middle East.
The complex phased accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed. Hostages taken by militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps implementing the deal, he said.
"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," U.S. President Joe Biden said in Washington.
Despite the breakthrough, residents said Israeli airstrikes continued on Wednesday evening in Gaza, where more than 46,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to local health authorities. Gaza City and northern Gaza were bombed and 20 people were killed, medics said.
Palestinians responded to news of the deal by celebrating in the streets of Gaza, where they have faced severe shortages of food, water, shelter and fuel. In Khan Younis, throngs clogged the streets amid the sounds of horns as they cheered, waved Palestinian flags and danced.
"I am happy, yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy," said Ghada, a displaced mother of five.
In Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages and their friends rejoiced at the news, saying in a statement they felt "overwhelming joy and relief (about) the agreement to bring our loved ones home."
Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, with votes slated for Thursday, an Israeli official said.
The accord was expected to win approval despite opposition from some hardliners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who repeated his condemnation of the agreement on Wednesday.
Netanyahu called Biden and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to thank them and said he would visit Washington soon, his office said.
In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact "an achievement for our people" and "a turning point."
DEFUSING REGIONAL TENSIONS
If successful, the ceasefire will halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza and displaced most of the tiny enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million.
That in turn could defuse tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has stoked conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between arch regional foes Israel and Iran.
Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50. Two American hostages, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, were among those to be released in the first phase, a source said.
The agreement calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the "priority now must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict."
Both the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross said they were preparing to massively scale up their aid operations.
The pact follows months of tortuous, on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and comes just ahead of Trump's presidential inauguration on Monday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the agreement in a post on X as did leaders and officials from Turkey, Britain, the United Nations, Jordan, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
PERILOUS PATH AHEAD
The road ahead is complex, with political minefields likely. Israeli hostage families expressed concern that the accord may not be fully implemented and some hostages left behind in Gaza.
Negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal will begin by the 16th day of phase one, and this stage was expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The third stage is expected to address the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
Trump said he would use the ceasefire deal as momentum to expand the Abraham Accords - U.S.-backed agreements struck during his first presidency in 2017-2021 that normalised Israel's relations with several Arab countries.
If all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel must still agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, a formidable challenge involving security guarantees for Israel and many billions of dollars in investment for reconstruction.
One unanswered question is who will run Gaza after the war.
Israel has rejected any involvement by the Islamist Hamas, which had ruled Gaza since 2007 and is officially sworn to Israel's destruction. But Israel has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.
Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 foreign and Israeli hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people struggling through the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
58 Comments
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John-San
Victory to Hamas, The IDF is defeated. Hamas won the battle of Gaza and will soon win the war. Israel population is now a minority and will not last the year. Hoo Hah Hamas.
wallace
Too long coming. Too many were killed. It's a good phase from now on. Will all of the Israeli government accept it? Some will vote against it but want the hostages back.
Legrande
Why not earlier Biden?
wallace
Is it a victory for Biden in his last few days?
mist1
Why not earlier, Netanyahu?
wallace
Some IDF reservists have been refusing to fight in Gaza and have spoken about the terrible actions they did.
theFu
Ask Hamas. They took hostages. They held hostages. They killed hostages.
I'm a little surprised that all hostages aren't being returned.
Hamas caused 46K+ people to die, for what? Average Palestinians can't take much more "winning" like this. Hamas was stupid and they are still stupid. You don't start a war if you can't win it. Why is that so hard to understand BEFORE doing dumb things? A number of countries have started wars they failed to win in the last 30 yrs. Only politicians have an idea of a "limited war" - if that is your plan, you will lose. War is about breaking things and killing people - all out - until the opposition cannot, cannot, continue to fight. If you do anything less when fighting a war, you are doing it wrong.
Of course, as politicians change, stupidity can be reversed. Did Hamas leadership change like happened in Lebanon with their PM? Or can they simply not find more volunteers willing to die for remaining, current, stupid, Hamas leaders?
Peter Neil
trump already claimed credit, saying the deal only happened because he was elected.
it’s not a joke. he really said it.
Yrral
Israelis has open the gates of hell,I hope those who enter it ,will be consumed by it ,by their actions
TaiwanIsNotChina
Thanks, Joe Biden!!!
sakurasuki
Just wait until the occupier, break that deal, again.
Some dude
trump already claimed credit, saying the deal only happened because he was elected.
Yeah, but face it, the likelihood of him saying that exceeded 100 per cent, just as we can be certain that his groupies will be along later to say the exact same thing, in the usual mental lockstep.
It's never enough for some people that there is positive news - always has to be a zero sum game for them. "My guy gets all the credit and your guy gets none".
Course if either side breaks the truce, then he'll immediately blame someone else and say "hey, I haven't taken office yet, not my fault".
JboneInTheZone
What exactly did Hamas “win”? it doesn’t look like Israel has given any concessions towards Hamas’ original goals. The only difference between now and before 10/7 is that Gaza and its people have been totally devastated. What did they get out of that?
wallace
The Palestinian problem will not be resolved until they have their state that is opposed by Netanyahu and his right-wing ministers.
bass4funk
Biden gets some credit, but Trump gets a lot of credit for threatening all hell will break loose if they don’t release the hostages.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I think Israeli bombing had more of an effect than a Trump toilet tweet.
itsonlyrocknroll
I hope this news leads to a permeant ceasefire, the release of all the remaining hostages.
Many questions still remain, will a permanent mediated "peace" lead to a solution for the Palestine people?
I sense rocky roads ahead, a permanently occupation of Gaza. This war has not seen the irradiation of Hamas.
The threats from Iran ever present.
With Donald Trump administration "incoming" the uncertainty is clouding the significance of this so called truce.
Aly Rustom
agree 100%
That's what worries me too.
John-San
Biden had stuff all to do with this out come. This why this Happened. Trump hate Netanyahu guts for the double deal over the Iranian General assassination. 2019 Mossad got info where the general would be at a certain place and certain time and asked Trump to bomb him and Israel will take the credit. But dog Netanyahu in the last second deny it was Israel. So the credit or blame was shifted to Trump and the USA. Look who did not get an invite to Trump inaugural no other then the Dog Netanyahu. Trump team put this together not Biden. This would not happen if Biden team were involved. What really surprise me that not one Trumps Mega Experts on this forum knew what Trump really thought of Netanyahu and when I comment about Trumps hate for Netanyahu you all give the comment the big thumb down. I knew than how uninformed the mega experts were on here. You so call Trump/ Republicans are clueless. I have proven you all to uninformed. I predicted Hamas will win the Battle of Gaza and I will predict the enclave of Israel will not survive. It is only a matter of time. Not IF but When.
Chabbawanga
Trump making big waves before he is even officially back in office
WoodyLee
THANK YOU MR. TRUMP.
Chabbawanga
Why?
Capuchin
Good point. An important lesson for all those living under foreign occupation. Don't dare resist or we'll erase your schools, hospitals, holy sites, agriculture, entire bloodlines and your future.
They should have known better.
Burgerland
Amazing how the imminent incoming of the Trump administration is making players in all parts of the world change tune and compromise to make deals. Great news for the Middle East. Peace for Ukraine next.
Wasabi
Yeah for the terrorist?
WoodyLee
Congratulations to Families of the Israeli Hostages, Congratulations to Families of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel, Prayers to all victims on both sides, and Congratulations to all the Genocide Survivors in Gaza.
Long LIVE Freedom and Democracy, Down with Occupation and Apartheid.
Geeter Mckluskie
A week after he said "all hell will break loose if they don't release the hostages"...we hear of a peace deal
Burgerland
Thanks, Joe Biden!!! ....hmmm....."Trump making big waves before he is even officially back in office"
Indeed. From another AP article today -
*"Associated Press -"Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after the White House brought Trump's Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months."*
This says it all. Thanks D. Trump, the peacemaker. Now bring peace to Ukraine too, thank you.
Chabbawanga
It would be hilarious if Trumps first days in office are spent purging the neocons he humoured to get his job back.
Geeter Mckluskie
Then to have planned, trained for and carried out the slaughter of 1200 innocent civilians, mostly peace loving hippies who sympathised with them
Geeter Mckluskie
*than
WoodyLee
""Trump already claimed credit, saying the deal only happened because he was elected.
it’s not a joke. he really said it.""
Which is TRUE.
Biden had 15 months and he Fumbled.
Mr. Steve Witkoff told Bibi on Saturday the 11th. that Trump Hell talk includes Israel too and before you know it things started rolling fast.
WoodyLee
"" What exactly did Hamas “win”? ""
True, but the fact that they managed to survive this 15 month and still fighting direct combat face to face with one of the most advanced armies in the world speaks a lot for them.
Not a Hamas fan but this is a victory for Hamas anyway you look at it.
wallace
If peace is achieved it will take billions and decades to rebuild Gaza. Hamas needs to be replaced with a new elected authority.
WoodyLee
Surprise Surprise, NONE of Israel's politicians are calling Mr. Trump and Anti Semitic for Shoving this ceasefire down their throats. I wonder why???
Chabbawanga
800 civilians
Ricky Kaminski13
Thankyou Donald Trump for speaking in the only language that Hamas could ever understand. The game was up, it was that simple. The new administration simply couldn’t be played like you did the last one. You couldn’t get a clearer picture of what works and what doesn’t in this world full of thugs and jihadists hiding behind their disastrous hate filled politics that has brought an insane amount of death, violence and destruction since October 7th.
So happy for the families who will get their loved ones back, the world somehow forgot that they should never have been taken in the first place, and if the peace holds it’ll be something we can all celebrate.
Will be very happy to finally turn the page on these daily back and forths too. The whole situation has taught us so much about the delicate psychology of the world, the mental traps that can be fallen into, the ideologies at play and sadly how easily even us common folk can be lured into a pit of hatred. Never thought I was capable of hatred until this all happened, never thought the specters from the past would reappear in our modern day age. Lest we forget that lesson.
Time for the world to heal. 2025.
wallace
Israeli hostages who are young men and soldiers will not be released.
Yrral
The majority of the world support the struggle of the Palestinians, meaning that billions of people oppose Jews genocide of Palestinians,Jews will learn the hard way from the world,that this continue assault on Palestine will not be tolerated without any reprecussions from the world
Chabbawanga
You realise it was netanyahu who capitulated to Trump, not Hamas, who have been trying to organize a ceasefire for months.
Geeter Mckluskie
Hamas and the Palestinians who joined in the slaughter in ecstasy as seen in their own footage, planned and carried out the masacre and catalysed this round of conflict. The 42,000 dead as a result is just as much on their hands as it is on the IDF's excessive, cruel response. Also, the reports that 70% of Gaza's dead are women and children prove how much the men in Gaza value those lives...as they've clearly abandoned them to take the brunt of their ill-thought out masacre and corresponding aftermath. Shame on the men of Gaza who put their women and children in the firing line and shame on the IDF for taking revenge on the innocent.
Chabbawanga
Netanyahu capitulates.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-01-13/ty-article/.premium/trumps-mideast-envoy-forced-netanyahu-to-accept-a-gaza-plan-he-repeatedly-rejected/00000194-615c-d4d0-a1f4-fbfdce850000
Chabbawanga
Which corresponds exactly with the population of Gaza who are women and children. With half the total population being minors, and half the adult population being women.
Fighto!
Interesting how the pro-Hamas types just last week were moaning about their territory "being bombed to oblivion", having "no functioning hospitals" and "47,000 Palestinians being killed" - but are now heralding this as a "total military victory" for Hamas. Really?
Unless Hamas are removed as the Palestinian government, there is zero hope for a Palestinian statehood.
WoodyLee
""Thankyou Donald Trump for speaking in the only language that Hamas could ever understand""
HUMMM, Thankyou Donald Trump for speaking in the only language that BIBI and his war mongers could ever understand, soon we will find out what went on during that meeting between Bibi and Mr. Steve Witkoff on Sat. the 11th. when Bibi's office told Mr. Witkoff that the PM doesn't work on Saturdays, then he replied I will meet the PM before the end of of the day .
Chabbawanga
Right. Prisoner release was one of their outlined goals, but at the human cost of this conflict i dont think anyone could call it a victory. Besides that, Gaza is still under blockade, which will be even worse with Israel in control of the Egypt border. Military operations in the West Bank have also increased significantly so no victory there. Goodwill towards Israel is at an all time low, but what does that matter when the world superpower is still providing them with cover.
WoodyLee
""Unless Hamas are removed as the Palestinian government, there is zero hope for a Palestinian statehood.""
The same was said about the Taliban, and the NEW Syrian Leadership.
Any idea's!!?
John-San
Wasabi: The majority that were killed on 07/10 died from HEAVY ARTILARY. Injuring consistent with Shelling, 30 cal striffling. Hamas did not have heavy artillery that leaves only the IDF. If you attack your unarmed citizen with heavy artillery that is an act of terror. 07/10 was a Hamas counter offensive. Hamas and the IDF were at war before 07/10 The IDF had active guard post surrounding Gaza Why ? because in war there will be the counter offensive. They knew soon or later that there will be a counter offensive and were prepared for a counter offensive by surrounding Gaza with active guard post. It is not Hamas fault that the Guard posts were ill prepared and the IDF being slack and non attentive to their orders. The result of this counter offensive has destroy Netanyahu politically and morally. Has seen the exodus of 3 million plus Israeli citizens. Expose the IDF as ill equip force and as Terrorist thought the world. Has seen the support for Israels diminish to one Allie the USA. It as Netanyahu wanted international for crimes and crimes against humanity. 1000's of Palestinian Hostages getting release. It say Hamas as achieve it mission. In Military history Hamas counter offensive will down and be the example taught throughout the world's military schools. Has how to conduct and counter offensive.
bass4funk
https://www.foxnews.com/media/idf-general-credits-trump-threat-big-change-securing-cease-fire-after-hamas-rejected-same-deal-may
Yup, he’s right.
WoodyLee
Bibi has yet to come out and announce the agreement and the the planned release of the Hostages to the Israeli people.
Many Israeli's are angry at Bibi asking how could it be that they hear the news from Pres. Biden, from Qatar FM, and from Hamas leadership BUT not from their own leader!? Where is Bibi?
Blacklabel
Well that’s one “war” wrapped up by Trump and he isn’t even in office yet.
lets get the other one wrapped up next week too?
wallace
Blacklabel
It's far from being "wrapped up". If Trump can secure true peace between the Jews and Muslims would be something that won't happen during his second term.
Netanyahu and his cabinet have agreed to nothing.
Zaphod
An early Trump effect. He solved this problem even before being in office. The big question is if he can revive the Abraham accords, seeing how the Biden government has solidly destroyed all trust in American agreements.
John-San
Bassfunk: BS the deal is the same deal as 12 months ago if you bother to check. Yes Trump team got it done. Only because Natenyahu is a dog who cross Trump and he is now paying for it. Natenyahu try to burn Trump back in 2019 which FOX news knew but refuse to report it. You really should do your research other than Fox News. Did FOX news tell you about what you had to sign when applying for flood relief during the Texas 2017 Floods. You had to agree to support Israel not the USA but Israel and if you did not agree you did not get Texas Government Flood relief. Check it out BassFunk educate yourself mate.
Blacklabel
“Gaza ceasefire deal reached between Israel, Hamas; truce to begin Sunday”
so who agreed to it?
Blacklabel
Sounds like the narrative is that Trump forced Israel to accept a deal they didn’t want and don’t agree with to stop a war.
if so, that’s GREAT isn’t it?
WoodyLee
Mr. Trump has never forgotten the Iraq War Lies about WMD driven by Bibi who pushed for the invasion of Iraq costing America more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers and close to 100,000 Iraqi civilians.
Trump said it many time ""They Lied they said there were weapons of mass destruction there were NONE and they knew there were NONE.""
GuruMick
Israel is in the dog house now and for decades to come.
Maybe thats what "Hamas got out of ot
Israel PM and Defence Minister wanted as war criminals.
Maybe thats what Hamas got out of it.
Many nations have broken or restricted ties with Isael, many reducing/stopping arms sales.