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Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal to bring about a temporary pause to Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza and the release of Israeli and Palestinian captives, officials have announced.
The deal was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social Wednesday evening, after he first unveiled a heavily criticized 20-point plan to “end the Gaza Conflict” last week. Both the Israeli government and Hamas have confirmed that they agreed to the deal.
Palestinians rejoiced upon the announcement of the news. Videos posted online showed Palestinians celebrating in the streets and children dancing in reaction, celebrating a rare moment of relief amid two years of genocide.
Truthout contacted several of its regular contributors from Gaza to gather their reactions to the announcement.
“Here in the middle of the Gaza Strip, where I live among many displaced families, the atmosphere today feels different. Since morning, children have been running through the streets, smiling and celebrating. We heard fireworks bursting across the neighborhood in joy,” Ghada Abu Muaileq told Truthout.
“Prices are starting to drop, and everyone hopes the deal will succeed. Our only fear is that Israel will not honor the agreement, as happened before. My greatest wish now is for real safety to return — for no more people to die here. We deserve security, hope, health, education, and the simple right to live with dignity,” Abu Muaileq said.
Exact details of the deal are unclear. However, it is slated to include the release of all 20 living Israeli captives, in exchange for 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 other Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Hamas and associated factions would release Israeli captives within 72 hours of the agreement beginning.
Israeli forces are supposed to conduct a partial withdrawal from the territory after the captive swap is complete. After that, Israel would still control 53 percent of the Strip, according to Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian.
Under the deal, Israel will also open several crossings for the entry of 400 trucks of humanitarian aid on the first day, and 600 trucks daily after. This operation would be overseen by international aid organizations, not the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a Hamas official has said.
According to Israeli sources, per Al Jazeera, the ceasefire is slated to go into effect within 24 hours after the Israeli cabinet ratifies the agreement. That vote is supposed to take place Thursday evening. Though Trump’s plan calls for an end to the hostilities, there are not yet reports of what happens past the first phase.
As they celebrated, Palestinians also noted that Israel did not let up on its bombing even as the deal was announced. Video footage captured by Al Jazeera showed Israeli tanks firing at Palestinians trying to return to Gaza City, where Israel has been conducting a ground invasion.
Many were skeptical that Israel would adhere to the deal, given Israel’s history of breaking ceasefire agreements — including its unilateral ending of the ceasefire deal earlier this year, after its first phase was complete. Indeed, despite Trump’s plan giving huge leeway to Israel, certain Israeli demands like disarming Hamas were omitted.
“Ceasefire might not retain Gaza to what it was once; [a] flourishing city, nor could it retain the loved ones we lost, not erase our bloodcurdling memories, nor mitigate our unspoken grief, but it will at least stop the carnage, it will pause the horrors and terrors, it will give us a chance to breathe amid endless tragedies, it will give us a chance to grieve properly,” writer and medical student Hend Salama Abo Helow told Truthout.
“I wish it will lead to a permanent peace for Gaza,” she said.
“After two years of genocide, relentless bombardment, and a life stripped down to survival, this moment feels unreal — like breathing for the first time after being underwater for too long,” Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, writer and student at the Islamic University of Gaza, told Truthout. “We are overwhelmed — joy and sorrow intertwined. Happiness that the bombing has stopped, even for a moment, and sadness for everyone who is not here to witness it.”
“Still, beneath the relief, there’s fear — fear that this fragile calm could break again, that the sky could once more turn against us. But for now, we breathe,” Al-Wawi went on. “We have endured what no one should ever endure. And yet, Gaza sat’eesh — Gaza will live. She always does.”
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