ShareGAZA/DOHA: Qatar's prime minister said Wednesday the Zionist entity and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza starting on Sunday and a captive and prisoner exchange after 15 months of war. "The two belligerents in the Gaza Strip have reached a deal on the prisoner and the hostage swap, and (the mediators) announce a ceasefire in the hopes of reaching a permanent ceasefire between the two sides," Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told a press conference.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he was "thrilled" that captives would be freed under the deal and credited "dogged and painstaking" US diplomacy for reaching the accord. "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," Biden said in a statement.
A Hamas official described the Gaza ceasefire deal as "a great gain that reflects the legend that had been achieved through the steadfastness of Gaza, its people, and the bravery of its resistance" "It is also a reassertion of the occupation's failure to achieve any of its goals," Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Wednesday.
Thousands across Gaza celebrated the deal to halt the hostilities that have devastated much of the Palestinian territory. “I can’t believe that this nightmare of more than a year is finally coming to an end. We have lost so many people, we’ve lost everything,” said Randa Sameeh, a 45-year-old displaced from Gaza City to the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Youths beat tambourines, blew horns and danced in the street in Khan Younis in the southern part of the enclave minutes after hearing news of the agreement struck in the Qatari capital Doha.
Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States intensified efforts to cement an agreement. The announcement comes after months of failed bids to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history, and days ahead of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who immediately hailed the deal before it was officially announced by the White House. “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump had warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if it did not free the remaining captives before he took office, and envoys from both his incoming administration and Biden’s outgoing one had been present at the latest negotiations. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” Trump added in a lengthy second post. The president-elect added that his White House would “continue to work closely with (the Zionist entity) and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven”.
The Zionist military campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians. The health ministry said 62 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours. The ministry added at least 110,265 people have been wounded in more than 15 months of war. Gaza's civil defense agency said on Wednesday that strikes across the territory killed at least 24 people including a seven-year-old boy.
A Zionist strike killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin Wednesday, the Ramallah-based ministry of health announced shortly after news broke of a ceasefire deal in Gaza. On Tuesday, the ministry said a Zionist air strike on the Jenin refugee camp killed six people, including a teenager. “There are six martyrs and several injured as a result of the (Zionist) bombing of Jenin refugee camp,” the Ramallah-based ministry said. It said among those killed was 15-year-old Mahmud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiya.
Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera news outlet reported that the framework agreement comprised three interconnected phases. The first, it said, would last 42 days and involve a temporary halt to military operations on both sides, the withdrawal of Zionist forces away from population centers and towards Gaza’s borders, and the temporary cessation of flyovers by Zionist warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft for 10 hours each day.
Al-Qahera cited an Egyptian security source as saying coordination was “underway” to reopen the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt “to allow the entry of international aid to improve conditions”. State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper also reported that talks were underway to open the crossing.
Zionist government spokesman David Mencer had previously said the first phase of a deal would see 33 Zionist captives freed, while two Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that the Zionist entity would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. A source close to Hamas said that the initial hostage release would be “in batches, starting with children and women”. Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the truce’s 16th day, a Zionist official said, with media reports saying it would see the release of the remaining captives.
Among the sticking points in successive rounds of talks had been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Zionist troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory. The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, facing a Zionist ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid.
Netanyahu, who vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the Oct 7 attack, has opposed any post-war role for the militant group in the territory. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the Zionist would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.
He added that the “best incentive” to achieve Zionist-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalization between the Zionist entity and Saudi Arabia. Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed international pressure on the Zionist entity “does pay off”. – Agencies
