Stopping fighting in Gaza and exchanges of prisoners. These are the two key words of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, assures the international press. This Wednesday, January 15, the Islamist armed group confirmed withAl-Jazeera that“a delegation, led by Khalil Al-Hayya, approved a ceasefire proposal and a hostage agreement with Qatari and Egyptian mediators”. The Qatari Prime Minister is due to speak on the subject in the evening.
On the Israeli side, a diplomatic source declared to Ha’Aretz what “the crisis with Hamas [autour de la présence de militaires israéliens dans le corridor de Philadelphie] has been resolved”while another source indicated that “Israel hoped the first hostages would be released next week, before the president-elect’s inauguration [américain] Donald Trump”. “We have an agreement”declared the latter, quoted by numerous Middle Eastern media. To come into force, such a ceasefire must be officially ratified by Israel, which has clarified that certain details still need to be resolved.
The announcement of a truce in Gaza “follows months of intermittent negotiations, facilitated by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with support from the United States”specifies The Orient-The Day on its live broadcast dedicated to the war between the Hebrew state and the armed Islamist group.
This ceasefire will come into force on January 19. However, it has already aroused emotion in the region, where only one one-week truce had so far been observed in 15 months of war, in November 2023. “I almost can’t believe it. The war is over, my house is still standing and tomorrow I leave my tent to return homereacted a Palestinian woman from Gaza interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper. It’s a dream come true.”
A plan in several phases
According to several media, the agreement would include several phases. It would begin with the release of 33 hostages over a period of six weeks, including women, children and the elderly, in exchange for a thousand Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.
In a second phase – the details of which remain to be negotiated from the 16the day of the first sentence – Hamas would release the rest of the male prisoners, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners and a withdrawal of Israeli forces. Finally, the bodies of the remaining hostages would be returned to Israel in exchange for a plan to rebuild Gaza, under international supervision.
