A long-awaited agreement has finally come to fruition. After more than a year of blockage, indirect negotiations in Doha (Qatar) have accelerated as Joe Biden leaves the White House, who will be replaced on Monday by Donald Trump. They resulted, on Wednesday January 15, in the formalization of an agreement providing for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, after more than fifteen months of a war between Israel and Hamas which caused tens of thousands of deaths in the Palestinian territory.
The news was welcomed by many capitals and international organizations. And thousands of Palestinians exulted across the besieged and war-devastated Gaza Strip that followed an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israeli authorities accused Hamas on Thursday morning of provoking “a last minute crisis” by returning to certain points of this truce agreement, which a senior leader of the Islamist movement immediately denied, affirming that these accusations had not “no basis”.
Negotiations are therefore still very tense around this agreement “whose final details” are being finalized, according to a press release from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, published this night. Here is what we know about it at this stage.
A “complete and total” ceasefire planned for Sunday
Ceasefire agreement must enter “in force on [dimanche] January 19″explained the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed Ben Abderrahmane Al-Thani, whose country is one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas. Its first phase “will last 42 days”, he added at a press conference. Six weeks in total, confirmed US President Joe Biden, specifying that the agreement would result, in its first phase, in a ceasefire “whole and total”.
All fighting must therefore stop during this period, and Israeli forces must withdraw.”towards the east [de la bande de Gaza]far from populated areas: these forces will be positioned along the Gaza border”underlined the Qatari Prime Minister. They will settle “in a buffer zone, the details of which are to be specified on maps which both parties have now agreed”specifies the British daily The Guardian.
This withdrawal will allow “displaced people to return to their homes. This will also facilitate the transfer of injured people to be able to undergo treatment”, underlined Mohammed Ben Abderrahmane Al-Thani.
The release of 33 Israeli hostages against “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners
According to the Prime Minister of Qatar, during this initial phase, “Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including civilian women, as well as children, elderly people, sick and wounded civilians.” In exchange, Israel will have to release “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners, said Joe Biden.
These releases will come in dribs and drabs. “On the first day, three hostages will be released, and on the fourth day, four more will be released”specifies the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Then, twelve hostages will be released in four stages – three at a time – on the 14th, 21st, 28th and 35th days of the agreement. During the last week of the agreement, the remaining 14 hostages will be released.”continues the newspaper. “It is an agreement amid tears which, for the families concerned, constitutes a final torture which is undoubtedly as harsh as the previous fourteen months”estimated Patrick Klugman, a lawyer for hostage families, on franceinfo.
According to the Associated Press, 50 Palestinians should be released for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas. And 30 Palestinians will be released for every other hostage returned by Hamas. A senior American official, cited by Haaretz et The Jerusalem Post, confides that five Israeli soldiers should be released on Sunday, as part of these exchanges. Two American citizens are also expected to be released during this initial phase, specifies The Jerusalem Post.
Humanitarian aid will be able to enter
Humanitarian aid must increase during this first phase which also provides “the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers and others, allowing the entry of essential equipment, particularly for displaced people who have lost their housing as a result of the war”, detailed Mohammed Ben Abderrahmane Al-Thani. “We hope to be able to scale up in terms of humanitarian action”declared Thursday on franceinfo Jean-François Corty, president of Médecins du monde. The NGO plans in particular to bring 500 trucks per day into the Gaza Strip. “Which corresponds to entries before October 7, 2023”, underlined Jean-François Corty, recalling that “needs” current population of Gaza “are immense”.
The release of the last hostages will take place in a second phase
The second phase should allow “a definitive end to the war”, Joe Biden said. It will begin with the release of the last hostages still alive, “especially men and soldiers”. They will be released in exchange “an equivalent ratio of Palestinian prisoners”reports the Guardian. Of 251 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023, 94 are still held hostage in Gaza, of whom 34 are dead, according to the Israeli army. Israel will not leave “no Gaza until all the hostages have returned, the living and the dead”, an Israeli official had warned before the announcement of the agreement.
Fate of foreign hostages remains unresolved, observes Haaretzsince, “during the negotiations, Israel focused on the release of Israeli citizens”, argues the daily, specifying however that Israeli negotiators “demanded that all remaining hostages, including foreign nationals, be released in the second phase of the deal”. Among them, there are a total of eight Thai nationals, a Nepalese and a Tanzanian, the newspaper recalls.
Furthermore, this phase should be marked by the withdrawal of “all Israeli troops” of Gaza, explained the American president. “Until now, Benjamin Netanyahu had been very reluctant to take this step, and the details of this second phase depend on the continuation of the negotiations, which must begin 16 days after the start of the first phase”underlines the Guardian.
This is what Joe Biden recognized on Wednesday, admitting that he remained “a number of details to negotiate, the transition from phase 1 to phase 2. However, we have already agreed that if phase 1 should extend beyond six weeks, negotiations will continue”warned the American president. To closely monitor the implementation of the agreement, the Prime Minister of Qatar declared that“a monitoring mechanism” was going to be put in place in Cairo “and managed by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.”
The reconstruction of Gaza as the last step
The third and final phase must be devoted to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restitution of the bodies of hostages who died during their captivity. “Provisions relating to the future governance of the Gaza Strip remain unclear”raise the Guardian.
Already undermined before the war by an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007, poverty and unemployment, the Gaza Strip emerged from the war plunged into chaos. The United Nations has estimated that the reconstruction of the territory, more than half of which has been destroyed, would take up to 15 years and cost more than 50 billion euros. Infrastructure, particularly the water distribution network, was heavily damaged. “There are a lot of projects to be restarted, whether in terms of health, housing, access to water and food”listed Jean-François Corty, the president of Médecins du monde, on franceinfo.
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