Officials have finalized a long-awaited Gaza ceasefire deal, Qatar’s prime minister and other leaders announced on Wednesday, potentially bringing an end to the nearly 16 months of genocidal violence in Gaza in which Israeli forces have slaughtered, at a minimum, 46,000 Palestinians, and likely far more in their all-out extermination campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is slated to meet in coming days to vote on the deal. If it is passed, the deal would be implemented on Sunday, officials said, and would consist of three phrases.
The first phase lasts 42 days, during which time fighting is supposed to stop and Israeli troops are mandated to return to designated zones within Gaza: the Gaza side of its border with Egypt, an Israeli-built corridor splitting Gaza into a northern and southern region, and an expanded “buffer zone” along the border with Israel about 700 meters, or 0.4 miles, wide, according to reports. Israel is supposed to leave the Netzarim Corridor, which the military built to split Gaza into a northern and southern region, in phases the deal specifies.
Under the deal, Palestinians are supposed to be allowed to return to their homes, including people from the besieged area of northern Gaza. However, Israel has reportedly insisted that it be allowed to monitor movement of Palestinians within the region and implement inspections of those returning to the north.
During this time, Israel is supposed to allow a surge of humanitarian aid of over 600 trucks each day to enter Gaza to begin to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe that experts have warned has likely killed thousands of Palestinians.
Also during this phase, 33 Israeli captives would be released from Gaza, with releases happening steadily over the course of the phase, while Israel would release 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 who are serving life services. There are roughly 100 Israeli captives still in Gaza, while Israel is holding over 10,000 Palestinians in their prisons and military and torture camps, many of them without charge.
Palestinians rejoiced at the news of the ceasefire, with videos circulating of people in Gaza dancing, crying and playing music.
Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif took off his helmet and flak jacket while reporting on air and paid respects to journalists slain by Israel amid the assault. He posted a video of him celebrating on a phone call with fellow Al Jazeera journalist Fadi al-Wahidi, who is in need of medical evacuation after being shot by Israeli forces recently, but whose treatment has been blocked by Israel.
“I want to hug the world,” said journalist Hind Khoudary on social media.
Though Palestinians have expressed joy and relief, they have also expressed immense sorrow as they mourn the dead and missing and look to a future in an enclave destroyed by Israel. Many Palestinians have said that the first thing they will do after the ceasefire begins is to go to the graves of or attempt to find the remains of their loved ones killed in the genocide.
“I am really happy. We want to see Gaza City. We miss it. It’s true that many people from Gaza have no homes to return to, but it’s good to be in your neighbourhood, around your people and neighbours,” Palestinian Mohammed al-Nabahin, who is 13 years old, told Al Jazeera. “Even with the ceasefire, one still misses his relatives and loved ones who have been martyred.”
Details of the second and third phases would be ironed out during the first six weeks of the deal, according to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Currently, the parties have reportedly agreed to the next phases but have not put anything in writing yet.
Israel has said that it will not agree to conditions ruling out a resumption of attacks.
Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday, as the deal was being announced, that some details of the agreement are still being ironed out, and that they will be finalized in the coming hours.
According to media reports of the deal, in the second phase, also lasting 42 days, there would be a declaration of “sustainable calm,” meaning a cessation of military operations in the Strip. The deal mandates that Israel withdraw from the Strip entirely during this time.
During the second phase, Hamas and affiliated forces are slated to release all remaining male captives, civilians and soldiers, while Israel is supposed to release more Palestinian captives.
In the third and final phase, the border crossings in Gaza will reopen, and groups can begin a reconstruction process. The bodies of deceased Israeli and Palestinian captives are slated to be exchanged during this phase.
Whether this, or any parts of the deal, will be adhered to is yet to be seen. The success of the ceasefire is heavily dependent on compliance from Israel, whose leaders have been insistent throughout ceasefire negotiations that they be allowed to continue their assault; notably, Israel has repeatedly and openly violated its ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Israel has faced little to no consequences for its assault of Gaza, with the U.S., its primary foreign sponsor, refusing to withhold or withdraw any of its military support for Israel after having underwritten the genocide.
Al Thani said that there will be a reporting and enforcement mechanism put in place to oversee the agreement. Like the Biden administration, the incoming Trump administration is extremely pro-Israel and is favored by Netanyahu.
Ahead of the announcement of the deal, Israel had escalated its assault of Gaza, Palestinians reported, as a final push of extremely intense bombardments. It is typical for Israel to escalate attacks in the days before a ceasefire deal is announced, and Palestinians and journalists said it was, in fact, one of the most sure signs that a deal was actually being finalized.
Indeed, on Wednesday, Israel killed dozens of Palestinians in strikes as reports of the finalized deal circulated. Israeli forces also carried out a strike in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, killing five people.
The dozens of Palestinians killed during this time are part of the over 46,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since its genocide began on October 7, 2023, including over 17,000 children.
These figures are drawn from Gaza officials’ authorized counts, and experts have said time and again that these are likely a severe undercount. A recent study published in The Lancet medical journal said that deaths from violent killings alone have likely exceeded 70,000 — while, if deaths due to other factors like Israel’s starvation and disease campaign are included, experts have estimated that there could be hundreds of thousands of Palestinians dead due to the genocide.
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