On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, following distinct meetings with the Prime Minister of Qatar, according to a source informed about the discussions, as reported by AFP.
A United States official has confirmed the agreement.
In recent days, the urgency to conclude the hostilities has increased, as mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have intensified their efforts to establish a formal agreement.
On Wednesday, a source familiar with the discussions indicated that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani was “meeting Hamas negotiators in his office for (a) final push” to finalize the agreement.
It was gathered by The Bureau Newspaper that a ceasefire agreement concerning Gaza and the release of hostages was established after the Qatari Prime Minister’s discussions with Hamas and Israeli negotiators in his office.
The announcement follows several months of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the most lethal conflict in Gaza’s history, occurring just days before the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, who promptly praised the agreement prior to its official declaration by the White House.
We have reached an agreement regarding the hostages in the Middle East. The release will occur shortly. Thank you. Trump made a statement on his Truth Social platform.
Trump cautioned Hamas of severe consequences if it failed to release the remaining captives prior to his inauguration, with representatives from both his forthcoming administration and President Joe Biden’s outgoing one participating in the latest negotiations.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas initiated the conflict in Gaza by executing the most lethal attack on Israel to date, leading to the loss of 1,210 lives, predominantly civilians, as reported by an AFP assessment of official Israeli statistics.
During the attack, Palestinian militants took 251 individuals hostage, with 94 currently being held in Gaza. The Israeli military reports that 34 of these individuals are deceased.
According to figures from the health ministry in Gaza, which is operated by Hamas and deemed reliable by the UN, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has resulted in the deaths of 46,707 individuals, the majority of whom are civilians.
Disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory have been among the sticking points in successive rounds of talks.
The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, is poised to maintain its provision of essential aid despite an impending Israeli ban on its activities scheduled to take effect later this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged to eliminate Hamas in response to the October 7 attack, has rejected any post-war involvement of the militant group in the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday that Israel will ultimately need to accept the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed Palestinian Authority, and pursue a path toward establishing an independent Palestinian state.
He stated that the most effective motivation for attaining Israeli-Palestinian peace continues to be the potential for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, addressing an audience in Oslo, stated that the recent efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza demonstrate that international pressure on Israel is effective.
The attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7 elicited significant global outrage, as did the extent of the suffering in Gaza resulting from the subsequent conflict.
For months, global powers and international organizations have advocated for a ceasefire, which, until Wednesday, had proven difficult to achieve.
