It's A Ceasefire In Gaza; Confirms Mediators
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have announced that a ceasefire agreement in Gaza has achieved. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani made the announcement, saying that the deal will lead to the release of Israeli captives and surging humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The ceasefire will take effect on Sunday, January 19, Qatar’s prime minister has said in his press conference. He further added that talks were continuing with Israel and Hamas on the implementation of the deal.
US President Joe Biden also confirmed the Gaza ceasefire. He said “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” led to the agreement.
“It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” Biden said in a statement, noting that he put forward “the precise contours” of the plan in May of last year.
The ceasefire deal includes three phases. Phase one of the deal will last six weeks and include a “full and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women, the elderly and the wounded”, reported Al Jazeera.
In exchange of the hostages, Israel will “release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners”. During phase one, Palestinians “can also return to their neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza” and humanitarian assistance will be surged into the enclave.
The next six week will see Israel negotiating the necessary arrangements to get [to] phase two, which is a permanent end to the war”.
“There are a number of issues to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two, but the plan says that if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue”, as per the report.
US has been the major supporter of Israel in aiding it with munitions on its war against Gaza. Critics have slammed the Biden administration for failing to condition US aid to Israel in order to pressure Tel Aviv in reaching a ceasefire sooner. Reportedly, US provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional $17.9bn since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
