Israel & Hamas agree to ceasefire to end 15-month Gaza war

GAZA: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the deal told media on Wednesday, paving the way for a possible end to the 15-month war in the Middle East.

The deal follows months of talks brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with US backing, and comes just before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.

Israeli troops invaded Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and infiltrated Israeli communities, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and has reduced the narrow coastal enclave to rubble, with hundreds of thousands hunkering down in tents and makeshift shelters to survive the freezing cold.

As his inauguration approached, Trump reiterated his demand that the deal be done quickly, repeatedly warning of “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, worked with President Joe Biden’s team to push through the deal.

In Israel, the return of the hostages could ease some of the public anger against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the security failure on October 7 that led to the deadliest day in the country’s history.

The conflict has spread across the Middle East, with Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. The deal comes after Israel killed top leaders of Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in assassinations that gave it the upper hand.