Hello and welcome to the details of What’s behind the Gaza ceasefire deal? Key details explained and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A woman sits with a child with salvaged footwear amidst debris and rubble at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025. — AFP pic
JERUSALEM, Jan 18 — International mediators said this week that 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released in the first stage of a ceasefire deal for the Palestinian territory agreed with Israel.
In return, Israel is to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners starting from Sunday.
Below are the key details of the 42-day first phase as set out by mediators Qatar and the United States, and Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Prisoner-hostage swap
Militants will release 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase of the agreement, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said.
They will comprise “civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people... civilian ill people and wounded”, he said.
Government spokesman David Mencer said Israel was “prepared to pay a heavy price — in the hundreds” in exchange for the 33 hostages.
An Israeli official said the final number would depend on how many of the 33 hostages are alive.
Two sources close to Hamas told AFP that three Israeli women soldiers would be the first to be released on Sunday evening, although the militant group refers to all Israelis of military age as soldiers.
Yesterday, the Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners, the majority of them women, who are earmarked for release in the first exchange.
The 33 are among 94 hostages abducted to Gaza during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war. The total includes 34 captives the Israeli military has declared dead.
An Israeli military official said three reception points had been set up, one each at Kerem Shalom and Erez, both border crossings with Gaza, and one in Reim to the east of the territory.
There, the hostages would be joined by doctors and mental health specialists before being “transported via helicopter or vehicle” to hospitals in Israel.
Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed said the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in the second and third phases would be “finalised” during the initial atage.
Israeli positions in Gaza
During the initial 42 days, Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas to “allow for the swap of prisoners, as well as the swap of remains and the return of the displaced (Palestinian) people”, Qatar’s prime minister said.
The Israeli military official said that the army had drawn up “a revised defensive plan” involving “strengthening defensive measures along the Gaza Strip border”.
At the same time, Israeli forces would “withdraw from specific locations and routes within the Gaza Strip,” the official said.
“Residents will not be allowed to return to areas where (Israeli) troops are present or near the Israel-Gaza border.”
Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the “16th day” after the first phase’s implementation, another Israeli official said earlier in the week.
Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase.
Israeli forces were expected to remain up to “800 metres (yards) inside Gaza stretching from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanun in the north,” according to a source close to Hamas.
Israeli forces would not fully withdraw from Gaza until “all hostages are returned”, the second Israeli official said.
The source close to Hamas said Israeli forces would allow displaced Palestinians to return through an electronic checkpoint equipped with cameras.
“No Israeli forces will be present, and Palestinian militants will be barred from passing through the checkpoint during the return of displaced persons,” he said.
End to the war
Mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt will monitor the ceasefire deal through a body based in Cairo, Sheikh Mohammed said, urging calm in Gaza before the agreement comes into force.
There was “a clear mechanism to negotiate phase two and three”, he added.
“We hope that this will be the last page of the war and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement,” Sheikh Mohammed said when he unveiled the deal.
Under the arrangements outlined by Qatar, the details of phases two and three will be “finalised” during the implementation of phase one.
US President Joe Biden said the second phase would bring a “permanent end to the war”.
He said it would comprise an exchange for the release of remaining hostages who are still alive, including the male soldiers. Then all remaining Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. — AFP
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