Gaza ceasefire in exchange for 47,000 lives, effective Sunday
Last Updated on January 18, 2025 6:33 am
The Israeli government has approved a ceasefire and hostage agreement with the Palestinian independence movement Hamas. It will be implemented from Sunday (January 19). CNN reports.
The agreement was approved at a meeting of the security cabinet on Friday (January 17). Later, the full cabinet met for about seven hours to finalize it, the country’s prime minister’s office said.
A statement from the prime minister’s office said that the Israeli government has approved a ceasefire and hostage agreement. As a result, the way for the agreement to take effect from Sunday has been paved.
Earlier, the Israeli security cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement. The agreement was approved after a vote at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera reported.
At the time, a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that the Security Cabinet had accepted the agreement after “considering all political, security and humanitarian aspects and finding that the proposed agreement supports the achievement of the war’s goals.”
The statement also said that the Security Cabinet had also recommended that “the government approve the proposed framework.”
The process by which the agreement was reached
Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas agreed on a second ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Wednesday (January 15) after 15 months of conflict, brokered by the United States and Qatar. Qatari and US officials said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday (January 19).
Hamas approved the agreement almost immediately, but Israel delayed it. Although a cabinet meeting was scheduled to be held on Thursday (January 16) to approve the agreement, Netanyahu postponed the meeting, accusing Hamas of creating a “last-minute crisis.”
47,000 dead
Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack Gaza even at the last minute after the ceasefire agreement was signed. At least 113 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza in the past two days, including at least 28 children and 31 women.
This brings the total number of deaths in the past 15 months to 46,876. The total number of injured has reached 110,642 with 189 new injuries.
Ceasefire and hostage release
Reuters reported that the agreement sets an initial ceasefire period of six weeks, or 42 days.
The terms of the agreement include a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Israel.
According to the agreement, Hamas will release 33 Israeli prisoners in the first phase, including women, children and men over 50.
Discussions on the implementation of the second phase of the agreement will begin on the 16th day of the first phase. It could include the release of all remaining Israeli prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The third phase is expected to involve the return of the remaining bodies and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza. This work would be carried out under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.