US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire plan in Gaza, paving the way to a possible end to a devastating war that has destroyed most of the enclave, killed tens of thousands of people and reshaped the Middle East.
News of the deal sparked small celebrations in Israel and Gaza, amid hope of an end to the bloodshed and release of hostages.
But the agreement announced by Mr Trump left many unresolved questions that could lead to its possible collapse, as has been the case with previous ceasefires and peace efforts. Sticking points remain and there are still other phases that need to be negotiated before a lasting truce takes shape.
Talks to hammer out a deal have been under way in Egypt since the start of the week, and by the end of the third day of negotiations, a breakthrough emerged.
Qatar, which helped broker the deal along with Egypt, the US and Turkey, said the deal was the “first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid”.
First phase
The deal will provide for the release of the 48 hostages held by Hamas − of whom only 20 are still believed to be alive − in exchange for the freedom of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said the ceasefire would take effect "within 24 hours" of the Israeli government's expected approval of the deal at a meeting on Thursday evening, with the military completing the first phase of its withdrawal.
A "72-hour time window will then begin where all of our hostages will be released back into Israel," the spokeswoman told reporters on Thursday.
The first batch of hostages will include all the living captives and the remains of an unspecified number who died in Gaza. Hamas will then locate and exhume the remains of the others, who have been buried in tunnels that have been destroyed in Israeli strikes, sources told The National.
The sources in Cairo said Israel has agreed that the hundreds of Palestinians to be freed will include prominent figures such as Marwan Barghouti, a senior leader of the mainstream Fatah faction who is widely tipped as a possible successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, when asked about this, the Israeli spokeswoman said: "I can tell you at this point in time that he will not be part of this release."
Hamas has also called for guarantees from Mr Trump and the mediators of a scheduled Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
This would be the third ceasefire reached since the start of the war. The first, in November 2023, saw more than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners before it broke down. In the second, in January and February of this year, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel ended that ceasefire in March with a surprise bombardment.
What's at stake?
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said both sides have already agreed “on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”.
Mr Trump's 20-point plan came to life in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, but a number of complex elements still remain unresolved.
Sources have said that an agreement on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas's disarmament and governance of the Palestinian territory after the war are proving much more difficult to negotiate than the hostages for prisoners swap.
They said Hamas was not budging on any of its long-standing conditions of a full Israeli withdrawal – save for a border strip Israel wants to keep for security reasons – a long-term ceasefire and that control of the territory should be placed in the hands of Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu has opposed involvement by the Palestinian Authority.
The plan is vague about a future Palestinian state, which Israel firmly rejects despite a wave of recognitions by Western states.
Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with a UN-declared famine unfolding in Gaza and Israeli hostage families longing for their loved ones' return.
Protests have intensified in many countries around the globe in recent weeks and a UN probe last month accused Israel of genocide, a charge the government rejected as “distorted and false”.
Hamas has also been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
