After three days of intense negotiations in Egypt, U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of their peace plan for Gaza, a major step toward what could be an end to the war in the Palestinian enclave.
“This means that ALL hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw its troops to an agreed line as a first step towards a solid, lasting and eternal peace,” he added. “All parties will be treated fairly!”
The agreement comes two years and two days after the October 7, 2023, attack that Hamas led in southern Israel and in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.
That attack triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 67,100 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
Israel’s security cabinet meets on Thursday to formally vote on the first phase of the plan, after which the entire cabinet will also vote to approve it.
What has been announced?
Within 24 hours after the deal is formally approved by the Israeli cabinet, a ceasefire will take effect, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
According to a map distributed by the White House last week, this is the first of three phases of the Israeli withdrawal.
The Israeli military said Thursday that preparations were underway to fall back to the agreed lines.
Within 72 hours of the ceasefire starting, Hamas must release the 20 hostages believed to be still alive. He will subsequently have to return the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages, though it’s unclear how long that might take.
Israel will then release some 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC.
Their identities are not immediately known, but a list submitted by Hamas before the deal was reached included leading figures serving multiple life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.
Israel will also return the bodies of 15 Gazans for the remains of each Israeli hostage, according to Trump’s plan.
Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will begin entering Gaza, where U.N.-backed experts confirmed in August that famine was present.
Trump’s plan specified that 600 trucks would be delivered a day, but Palestinian sources said there would initially be a daily minimum of 400, with the number gradually increasing thereafter.
What happens now?
If completed, the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan would be followed by negotiations over the details of later phases, but many of these points will be difficult to agree on.
Trump’s proposal says that, if both sides accept it, the war would “end immediately.”
It claims that Gaza would be demilitarized and that all “military, terrorist and offensive infrastructure” would be destroyed.
It also claims that Gaza would be governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats, overseen by a “Peace Board” led and chaired by Donald Trump and involving former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hamas members would be offered amnesty if they commit to peaceful coexistence or be provided with safe passage to another country.
No Palestinians would be forced to leave Gaza and those who have left will be able to return.
In addition, a group of experts would create “an economic development plan to rebuild and revitalize Gaza.”
The unanswered questions
The announcements by Trump, Israel and Hamas do not cover some controversial issues on which both sides have failed to reach agreement.
There are no details yet on the disarmament of Hamas, a major point of Trump’s plan.
Hamas has refused on previous occasions to lay down its arms. He has said that he will only do so when a Palestinian state is established.
Gaza’s future governance is also a sticking point.
Trump’s plan states that Hamas will have no role in a future government of the Gaza Strip. It proposes that the territory be temporarily governed by a “technocratic and apolitical Palestinian committee,” before being handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Last week, Netanyahu appeared to reject the PA’s involvement, though he accepted Trump’s plan.
Hardline ultranationalists within Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, many of whom want to rebuild Jewish settlements in Gaza, are also likely to oppose this point.
Hamas, in response, said it still hoped to have a role in Gaza’s government.
As of Wednesday night, Hamas had not yet received the final list of Palestinian prisoners Israel plans to release in exchange for hostages in Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC.
The 20-point plan calls for the release of 250 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, in addition to 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7, 2023.
What have been the reactions?
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, reacted with emotion to Trump’s announcement.
This is the case of Eli Sharabi. His wife and children were killed on October 7 and Hamas is still holding the body of his brother Yossi. “Great joy, I can’t wait to see everyone home,” she wrote.
The mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen posted: “My son, you are going home.”
In Gaza, there were numerous celebrations following the announcement.
“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of the bloodshed and killings,” said Abdul Majeed abd Rabbo, a resident of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to Reuters.
“I’m not the only one who is happy, the whole Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, the whole world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of the bloodshed.”
Some groups of Palestinians were also photographed celebrating in Khan Younis after the announcement.
World leaders have urged both sides to respect the agreement.
“The suffering must end,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
He added that the UN would support the “full implementation” of the agreement and increase aid delivery and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
Source: Rushdi Abualouf, Lucy Manning and Tom Bennett | BBC News
