There is no agreement yet either on the disarmament of Hamas or on the governance of Gaza, but the news of the day is that Israel and Hamas itself have found an agreement by reaching agreement on the “first phase” of the plan to suspend the fighting and release at least the 20 hostages still alive in the next few days.
Donald Trump announces it loudly on his social media site Truth, a little prepared in view of the Nobel Peace Prize which he hopes to have at all costs.
All hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw its troops according to an agreed line, as a first step towards a strong and lasting peace โ writes the Tycoon. This is a great day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding nations and the United States of America. We thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Tรผrkiye, who collaborated with us to make this historic and unprecedented event possible. Blessed be the peacemakers!
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What does the first phase involve?
Hamas confirms ceasefire
Hamas has formalized the agreement to end the war in Gaza:
The movement announces the end of the conflict, the withdrawal of the IDF, the entry of humanitarian aid and an exchange of prisoners, after serious and responsible negotiations conducted with the Palestinian factions.
In a statement, Hamas thanks the mediators of Qatar, Egypt and Tรผrkiye, as well as US President Donald Trump, โfor the efforts made” to definitively end the war and achieve total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The hostages
Trump shared on Truth Social a video received from the family members of the hostages, including Lishi Lavi-Miran, wife of Omri Miran, and Yotam Cohen, brother of soldier Nimrod Cohen.
The President made it โ you can hear it in the video โ our loved ones are returning home. We will not stop fighting until the last of the 48 hostages returns. Thank you President Trump and thank you to your administration.
According to a Hamas source cited by AFP, the first phase of the agreement includes the immediate release of 20 live hostages in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The exchange must take place within 72 hours of the start of the implementation of the agreement, the signature of which is scheduled for today.
Among the Palestinian prisoners to be released, 250 are serving life sentences, while the other 1,700 were arrested after October 7, 2023.
The peace plan
Hamas emphasizes that the peace plan โprovides for the end of the war, the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the entry of humanitarian aid and the exchange of prisonersโ.The organization asks the parties to ensure compliance with the commitments and to avoid delays in the implementation of the agreement.
The statement also reads thanks “to the people of Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank and the diaspora, for the courage and steadfastness demonstrated in the face of the occupation plans”.
In the meantime, however, the details on the withdrawal of the Israeli army remain uncertain. A senior White House official told CNN that โonce the deal is approved, Israel will have to complete the withdrawal within 24 hours.โ
Once that deadline has passed, the 72 hours required for the release of the hostages will begin.
We expect the first releases to take place on Monday,โ the official said, although other sources do not rule out that they could begin as early as the weekend.
Two years of massacre
The ceasefire agreement comes exactly two years after the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the October 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took 251 civilians and soldiers hostage.
Since then, Israeli operations have caused at least 67,183 deaths, including more than 20,000 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Furthermore, it is known that Israel violated the previous ceasefire in Gaza at least 962 times and continues to violate the truce in Lebanon as well.
We hope that this ceasefire really happens, but it is probably only the beginning of a very long process.
Sources: Truth / BBC / CNN
