Qatar’s prime minister laid down the general terms of the six-week cease-fire, which includes swapping 33 hostages for an unspecified number of prisoners.
Israel and Hamas have reached a deal, to take effect on Jan. 19, for a hostage and prisoner swap, a six-week cease-fire, and access to relief aid for the beleaguered Gaza Strip.
The deal’s details were confirmed and many of them disclosed, at a news conference in Doha, Qatar, late on Jan. 15 by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The negotiations, conducted around the clock in recent days, were mediated by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, Al Thani said.
“We worked day and night in order to reach this moment,” he said.
As part of the agreement, according to Al Thani, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives, including civilian women, female recruits, children, elderly people, and civilians who are ill and wounded, in return for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel will withdraw toward the east, away from populated areas, he said.
“Israel force will then be positioned along the Gaza border, which will allow for the swap of prisoners, as well as the swap of [human] remains and the return of displaced people to their residences. This will also facilitate the travel of wounded and sick people in order to seek treatment,” Al Thani said.
The first phase will also see “an increased flow of relief and humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers, [and] bakeries,” he said. It will allow the entry of fuel and civil defense equipment, “as well as basic necessities for displaced people who lost their houses as a result of the war.”
Details of the deal’s second and third phases will be negotiated during the first phase, Al Thani said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House, said the first phase will include the release of American hostages. He called the negotiations “one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced.”
