Qatar’s PM confirms a ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

After 15 months of fighting, mediator Qatar said Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement to swap hostages and prisoners and to establish a truce in Gaza on Sunday.

The first phase of the deal, which might turn into a “permanent ceasefire,” would see the release of thirty-three Israeli captives, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar.

“The two belligerents in the Gaza Strip have reached a deal on the prisoner and the hostage swap, and (the mediators) announce a ceasefire in the hopes of reaching a permanent ceasefire between the two sides,” he stated.

“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,” said the prime minister.

The initial 42-day truce would see the release of 33 hostages, “including civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people, as well as civilian ill people and wounded,” who were taken during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught on Israel.

The prime minister stated that Israeli soldiers will leave Gaza and stay on its border during the first phase in order to “allow for the swap of prisoners, as well as the swap of remains and the return of the displaced people to their residences.”

He stated that within the first 42 days, the number of Palestinian detainees to be freed in return for the Israeli captives in the second and third phases will be “finalized.”

Sheikh Mohammed called for “calm” in Gaza prior to the ceasefire accord’s implementation, saying that joint mediators Qatar, the US, and Egypt will oversee the agreement through a body headquartered in Cairo.

“We hope that over the next few days there will not be any aggressions or any military operations,” he stated.
Sheikh Mohammed said that there was “a clear mechanism to negotiate phase two and three” and that the agreements’ specifics will be made public “in the next couple of days, once the details are finalised.”