After a 15-month conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-stage ceasefire deal on Jan.19, according to BBC.
According to NPR, the deal was set in place after Israel and Hamas were involved in heavy indirect negotiations that were moderated by facilitators from the U.S, Qatar and Egypt in Qatar’s capital, Doha. Envoys from both U.S. former President Joe Biden’s administration and President Donald Trump’s team were also there, pushing for both sides to decide on the deal.
Biden has said the deal would halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity, according to BBC.
The plan would follow through with the first stage, which would last 42 weeks to see a “full and complete ceasefire” after coming into terms of a complete plan on Jan.15 as stated by Biden. Sheikh Mohammed said that 33 hostages held captive by Hamas would be released, which include women, children, soldiers, and senior citizens who are ill or injured. In exchange, an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners would be released.
In addition, Israeli troops would retreat from populated areas of Gaza and have Palestinian hostages return to their neighborhoods. Israel also had to allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Palestine which includes medicine, food, supplies, and fuel. However, for the last few months, aid has been limited to Gaza due to Israeli military restrictions and robberies of aid trucks by gangs. The deal also includes the delivery of equipment to Gaza to begin constructing shelters for Palestinians in need and rebuild infrastructure such as electricity, sewage, communications, and road systems according to AP News.
The second stage of the deal involves Israeli troops agreeing to make a complete withdrawal from Gaza but have not agreed to the withdrawal until Hamas also withdraws and cannot rearm. Hamas will not agree to free the last hostages until Israeli troops make a complete withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas states that they will continue to make advances in the second stage of the plan if Israel also complies. Nonetheless, Israel has not given complete certitude of complying as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened it could resume its military invasion of Hamas or threaten Hamas into future negotiations, as stated by AP NEWS.
At the end of the plan, the third stage would involve releasing the bodies of remaining hostages in exchange for 3 to 5 years of the reconstruction of Gaza under international supervision.
As the ceasefire continues to be developed and monitored by mediators internationally, if all phases go by smoothly this could mark the of end of a 15-month conflict between Hamas and Israel, reuniting hostages with their families while also introducing implications of what future relations between Israel and Palestine are ought to be and how this will affect their relationship in upcoming years.
Daniela Ordaz is a contributing writer for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected]
