TEL AVIV — A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has been reached after 15 months of devastating war that has seen tens of thousands of people killed in the Gaza Strip, left scores of Israeli hostages in painful limbo and changed the face of the Middle East.
The truce, initially announced Wednesday, is expected to stop the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 46,500 people and caused a devastating humanitarian crisis, according to local health officials. It will also see the phased release of dozens of hostages captured during the Oct. 7 2023, terror attack who are still being held in Gaza, as well as the release of hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel.
Hundreds of trucks of desperately needed aid are also expected to start entering the enclave daily once the ceasefire comes into force.
Here’s what we know so far about the three-phase deal:
What happens first?
The agreement outlines a roughly six-week initial ceasefire phase that could begin as early as this weekend.
Before a ceasefire can take effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to seek approval from his security Cabinet as well as from his full Cabinet. The security Cabinet approved the deal Friday, with Netanyahu's office announcing early Saturday local time that the full Cabinet had also signed off on the deal.
The ceasefire could come into effect as early as Sunday, and the first hostages could also be released that same day.
It comes after the Israeli leader's office reported a delay on Thursday, accusing Hamas of creating a "last-minute crisis" by reneging on part of the deal.
In an interview with the Saudi state-owned television channel Al Arabiya on Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri denied holding up the deal, saying there was “no basis” for claims the group had “backed down from the terms of the ceasefire agreement."
Outgoing President Joe Biden, who described the talks to secure a deal as “one of the toughest negotiations” he has ever experienced, said Wednesday that the first stage would take around six weeks, bringing a halt to fighting that would allow the phased release of hostages held by Hamas, as well as of Palestinians detained by Israel.
Will hostages be released?
Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas is expected to gradually release a total of 33 of the 96 hostages who remain in Gaza after being taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, The Associated Press reported, citing a draft of the document, with Israeli media reporting the same number. NBC News has yet to review a copy of the ceasefire deal, but obtained an overview from Hamas.
It remains unclear exactly how many of the hostages held in Gaza are still alive, but at least 34 abductees are confirmed or believed to be dead.
At least two American hostages, Keith Seigel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, are expected to be released in the first phase of the deal, a senior administration official said in a briefing Wednesday. A third American, Edan Alexander, who had volunteered with the Israeli military, would be expected to come out in the second phase, the official said.
Seven U.S. citizens remain in Hamas' captivity, with three confirmed to be dead in addition to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, whose body was recovered last year by Israeli forces.
Women, children and the elderly are expected to be among those to be released during the first phase, Biden said Wednesday.
Israel is meanwhile expected to release a number of Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage released by Hamas.
What next for Gazans?
The initial phase of the deal will bring much-needed relief to Palestinians in the enclave who have faced 15 months of ruinous airstrikes and repeated displacement amid a grave humanitarian crisis marked by an acute shortage of aid and shattered hospitals.
The initial phase will see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and will allow Palestinians who have been displaced from northern Gaza throughout much of the war to return to the area, according to Reuters.
Many of those returning to the north are unlikely to have homes to return to, with much of the area damaged and destroyed over the past 15 months. Meanwhile, their return is expected to mark the beginning of efforts to find missing loved ones who may be buried under the rubble, with the death toll of Israel's offensive believed to be much higher than official numbers suggest.
In a peer-reviewed study published earlier this month in The Lancet journal, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said they estimated that as many as 64,260 people were killed in “traumatic injury deaths” within the months between Oct. 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024.
And in the hours since Wednesday's ceasefire announcement, the death toll in Gaza continued to rise, with Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza Strip, warning in a post on Telegram on Thursday that nearly 80 people had been killed in the enclave since the agreement was announced, including at least 21 children, with dozens of other people wounded.
The ceasefire deal is expected to bring a "massive infusion of trucks" carrying desperately needed aid into the enclave, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said.
"This won’t happen overnight, but we want to get up to over 500 trucks a day," he said, adding that the ceasefire would also enable the distribution of aid throughout the enclave.
"Because it is not just a question of getting trucks and getting assistance to the gates into Gaza — it’s getting them delivered," he said. "It’s been very difficult because of the security situation on the ground."
It is unclear what mechanisms have been worked out to facilitate boosted shipments of aid into the enclave. Humanitarian organizations have accused Israel of preventing much of the aid from entering the enclave during the conflict. Israel denies it is stopping aid from reaching desperate civilians, and accuses Hamas and criminal gangs are stealing supplies, and the United Nations of incompetence.
Would this mean a permanent end to the war?
It is unclear when exactly a second phase of the ceasefire might begin — but that will likely depend on how the first phase of the truce goes.
Negotiations over a second stage are expected to get underway by the 16th day of the first phase, which Biden said Wednesday would aim to bring about a "permanent end of the war."
"If negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue," he said.
The U.S., Egypt and Qatar — the three countries that helped mediate the deal — are expected to act as guarantors of the agreement, their leaders said in a statement Wednesday.
Their role will be to ensure both parties implement the phases of the agreement in full, allowing for a lasting ceasefire and a "return to sustainable calm," they said, after more than a year of deadly violence and despair across the region.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus implored Israel's Cabinet to "approve the ceasefire and hostage release deal" and urged "all sides to honor and implement it," in a statement on Thursday.
"The best medicine is peace," he added.
