After 15-months of war, “Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage release agreement to halt more than a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” according to CBS News.
Based on BBC News, “the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is one of the longest-running and most violent disputes in the world,” with its origins dating back to more than a century. The latest war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters led an unprecedented attack from Gaza and killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 250 hostages.
Hamas described the attack as a response to “decades of Israeli oppression, the killings of Palestinians and years-long blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
In retaliation, a massive Israeli military offensive launched ground operations in Gaza and more than 46,700 people were killed, with the majority being women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The massive killings and loss of innocent lives triggered responses from humanitarians worldwide. “Days before Israel marked a year since the 7 October attacks, UN humanitarian agencies signed a declaration demanding an end to appalling human suffering and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”
With a population of about 2.3 million people, the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on Earth. Though many people in Gaza were living below the poverty line and were dependent on food aid, life was mostly peaceful before the Oct. 7 attack.
Post-attack, families were broken apart, homes and schools were destroyed and surviving Palestinians took shelter in packed refugee camps. Life as they knew it became bleak, and they constantly lived in fear and devastation. According to AP News, more than 1 million Palestinians were packed into Rafah and were forced to live among “the massive sprawl of tens of thousands of tents.”
Rafah was “the last safe place in Gaza,” however, it was not long until the Israeli military bombarded the camp and pushed out all Palestinian refugees, who fled and set up a number of new tent cities that were “scattered across southern and central Gaza.”
The Israeli military continued to invade and attack Gaza, intensifying their attacks since the ceasefire deal was announced. While the ceasefire had yet to take effect, Israeli troops continued to strike.
The ceasefire and hostage release agreement was announced by U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatar’s prime minister separately. According to the White House, President Biden made the announcement on Jan. 15 in his farewell address to the nation, speaking from the Oval Office.
“After eight months of nonstop negotiation, my administration — by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas, the elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year,” Biden said.
According to CBS News, the deal was developed and negotiated under Biden’s administration, while the implementation of the deal will, for the most part, be under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration after Trump takes office.
“President Biden’s administration worked closely with their counterparts on Trump’s team,” with Biden’s top Middle East advisor, Brett McGurk, and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, mostly working “arm-in-arm” during the negotiations.
The long-awaited ceasefire was set to start at 1:30 a.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 19, 8:30 a.m. local time in Gaza. The ceasefire deal is temporary and subject to changes according to violations of the agreement.
The ceasefire deal would “consist of three phases, each lasting about 42 days.” “During the first phase, Hamas would release 33 women and children hostages, as well as hostages over 50 years old.”
“For each woman or child hostage returned to Israel, Israel is expected to release 30 Palestinian women and children from its prisons. Hamas would release all hostages over 50 years of age, and Israel would release 30 Palestinian prisoners aged 50 or older.”
Biden said Americans will be among the first wave of hostages released.
“During the exchange of hostages and prisoners, there would be a complete ceasefire in Gaza to allow aid to enter.” Furthermore, “international aid groups and the United Nations would resume operations in Gaza, and would begin reconstruction of the enclave’s infrastructure, such as water, electricity and sewage systems.”
As for the second phase, “the deal would involve the release of all remaining male Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of all IDF forces from Gaza.”
Finally, “the third phase would include the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and prisoners and the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza.”
According to AP News, “during the third week of the ceasefire, the sides are to open negotiations on “Phase 2″ that aims to end the war altogether.”
While the ceasefire deal is generally good news, it is not a guarantee that the war will be ended or that all the ones held captive in Gaza will be released. How the deal proceeds and the outcome of it depends on the cooperation of both the Hamas’ military and Israeli military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We must protect our ability to return to fighting if we need.”
As of right now, the families of hostages and prisoners remain hopeful for a long-awaited reunion with their loved ones, alive or deceased. Humanitarian aid groups are also on standby to provide aid while military troops pull back.