Israel and Hamas reached a deal on Wednesday to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the Associated Press, BBC and Reuters reported. The deal paves the way for an end to more than a year of war in Gaza that has roiled the Middle East.
The deal provides for the phased release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and allows hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It will also allow for the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory. The agreement follows months of intermittent negotiations, which were brokered by Egypt and Qatar, with the support of the United States, and was reached just before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants broke through border defenses and crossed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250 others. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead. Since then, Israel's war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. On the eve of officially taking office, Trump has reiterated his demand for a deal to be reached quickly, repeatedly warning of "serious consequences" if the hostages are not released. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, worked with the team of outgoing President Joe Biden to finalize the agreement.
In Israel, the return of the hostages could ease some of the public anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the security failure on October 7 that led to the bloodiest day in the country’s history. The conflict has spread across the Middle East, with attacks on Israel by Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. The deal was reached after Israel killed top leaders of Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, securing a strategic advantage.