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ISRAEL-HAMAS NEGOTIATIONS

What we know about the Gaza cease-fire deal

Negotiations are ongoing in Qatar and are being conducted with Hamas and Israeli delegations both present in two separate rooms. Any agreement would likely still require approval from the Israeli cabinet.

What we know about the Gaza cease-fire deal

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani addresses a press conference at the Diwan Annex in Doha on Jan. 15, 2025, discussing the cease-fire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel. (Credit: Karim Jaafar/AFP)

After months of sporadic and interrupted attempts at mediating between Hamas and Israel, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators managed to facilitate an agreement between the warring sides, bringing a pause and possible end to 15 months of a devastating military onslaught on Gaza, where Israeli bombardment has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

While the prime minister of Qatar announced that the cease-fire would begin on Sunday, Jan 19, the office of the Israeli prime minister released a statement saying there were still unresolved issues in the agreement but that it hoped these would be sorted by Wednesday evening, and that Benjamin Netanyahu would not make a public statement until his government had officially approved the truce's various elements. Israeli media reports that the country's cabinet is likely to meet Thursday evening to review and vote on the proposal.

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Several media outlets, including Reuters, AFP and Middle East Eye (MEE) have spoken to Palestinian and Israeli sources and viewed a copy of the a deal, the details of which include outlines for a time frame and the manner through which the Israeli army will withdraw and hostages will be released. The deal includes three stages, with overlapping negotiations beginning during each stage in preparation for the next.

According to AFP, Hamas will free 33 hostages held in Gaza, starting with women and children, while Israel will release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first stage of the cease-fire, which is set to last six weeks.

The full text of the deal published by MEE specifies that nine ill and wounded hostages from the list of 33 will be released in exchange for the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and that each man over 50 released by Hamas will be exchanged for three Palestinians with life sentences or 27 Palestinians with "other" sentences.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Tuesday confirmed Israel was seeking the release of 33 hostages as part of the first stage, and an anonymous Israeli official said "several hundred" Palestinian detainees would be freed in exchange for the hostages, with the final number depending on how many of the 33 hostages are alive. According to Israeli media, Israeli officials believe them all to be alive, but Hamas has yet to confirm.

Hamas indicated last week that it had agreed to release 34 hostages in the first stage of a multi-phase deal, but Israeli forces retrieved the body of one of those listed, reducing the total to 33.

The 33 hostages agreed upon for the exchange are among 94 hostages still held in Gaza since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 al-Aqsa Operation against southern Israel. Among the 94, the Israeli army believes around 34 to be dead.

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Israeli buffer zone

The cease-fire deal presents itself in two phases with negotiations for the second phase beginning on the 16th day after the first phase begins, Reuters reports.

According to Time of Israel, this second phase would cover the release of the remaining captives, including "male soldiers, men of military age and the bodies of slain hostages."

Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase and a source close to Hamas said Israeli troops were expected to remain up to "800 meters inside Gaza, stretching from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north."

The agreement text published by MEE says Israeli will "gradually reduce the forces in the [Philadelphi] corridor area during stage one based on the accompanying maps," and that on day 42, "the Israeli forces will begin their withdrawal and complete it no later than day 50."

Haaretz reported that Israel would allow the movement of residents from southern Gaza to the North, which has been effectively under siege since mid-October. The source close to Hamas said Israeli forces would withdraw from the Netzarim corridor westward toward Salaheddin Road to the east, enabling displaced people to return through an electronic checkpoint equipped with cameras. 

Israeli forces would not fully withdraw from Gaza until "all hostages are returned," an Israeli official said. "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, without providing details as to how this would be enforced.

According to Reuters, the deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the cease-fire, 50 of them carrying fuel, with 300 of the trucks allocated to the North where conditions are particularly dire.

A third phase is expected to include the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations, Reuters reports.

Sticking points

Previous negotiations faltered over several contentious issues. Key sticking points include disagreements over the permanence of a cease-fire, the scale of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, and the logistics of returning displaced Palestinians to their homes.

Additional disputes concern the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the reopening of border crossings and governance over Gaza. Netanyahu has firmly opposed a full troop withdrawal and rejected any Palestinian governance in the territory.

Negotiations are ongoing in Qatar and are being conducted with Hamas and Israeli delegations both present in two separate rooms, AFP reports. Any agreement would likely still require approval from the Israeli cabinet.

After months of sporadic and interrupted attempts at mediating between Hamas and Israel, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators managed to facilitate an agreement between the warring sides, bringing a pause and possible end to 15 months of a devastating military onslaught on Gaza, where Israeli bombardment has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.While the prime minister of Qatar announced that the...