- During the 42-day ceasefire, Palestinian militant groups will hand over 33 Israeli hostages and Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
- The ceasefire has been brokered by Qatar. “The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) on Sunday, in accordance with the coordination of the parties to the agreement and the mediators,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said.
- Israel continued attacks on Gaza even on the eve of the ceasefire. At least five members of a family were killed in an attack on their tent in Khan Yunis, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired missiles at Israel in support of the Palestinians.
- This will be the second ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier, Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. In 2023, Hamas’ October 7 attacks killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Israel’s counterattack destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,899 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
- In remarks before the ceasefire, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv had “changed the face of the Middle East” since the war in Gaza began. “If we are forced to resume the war we will do so with force,” he warned.
- However, Hamas said Israel “failed to achieve its offensive goals” and “succeeded only in committing war crimes that humiliate the dignity of humanity”.
- The ceasefire in Gaza will come into force on the eve of Donald Trump becoming US President for a second term. Yesterday in a show on NBC, Trump talked about the situation in Gaza. He said he had told Netanyahu that the war “has to end”. “We want this to end, but let’s keep doing what we have to do,” he said.
- According to an AFP report, mediators had been trying to reach a consensus for months, but nothing came until Trump’s inauguration. In an unusual pairing, Brett McGurk, the point man for outgoing President Joe Biden, was joined by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff to finalize the deal, US officials said.
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has completed preparations “to assume full responsibility in Gaza” after the war. Israel has not expressed any clear stance on post-war governance other than to reject any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
- Meanwhile, displaced Gazans are eager to return home. “I will go to kiss my land,” said Nasr al-Gharabali, who fled to a camp in the south, away from Gaza City. “If I die on my land, it will be better than living here as a displaced person.”
