Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, US and Qatari mediators said.
Should the Israeli cabinet and government formally approve the deal, which is still to come, the first six-week phase will begin on January 19.
The deal follows a 15-month war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian armed group and political movement.
The current conflict began when hundreds of Hamas fighters stormed Israel’s southern border on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign, beginning with a rapid aerial bombardment and then a full-scale ground offensive launched on 27 October. Since then, Israel has attacked targets throughout Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.
More than 46,700 people – most of them civilians – have been killed by Israeli attacks, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Here is a reminder of the key events in the negotiations.
2023
7 October: Hundreds of gunmen led by Hamas have launched an unprecedented offensive in southern Israel, breaching the border fence and targeting nearby communities, police stations and military bases. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were returned to Gaza. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets into Israel. The Israeli military quickly responded with air and artillery strikes in Gaza.
October 27: Israel begins ground attack on Gaza. Israel’s massive military campaign will continue to devastate Gaza, displacing most of its 2.3 million people, and killing more than 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
21 November: A deal brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt sees Hamas release 105 hostages in return for 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails during a week-long ceasefire. Israel and Hamas they fight each other by causing the collapse of the agreement.
28 December: Shuttle diplomacy on a new ceasefire and hostage release begins.
2024
31 May: US President Joe Biden reveals i Israel’s proposal for a three-phase ceasefire to free the Israeli hostages. It formed the basis of a treaty that was agreed eight months later.
10 June: United Nations Security Council you appeal the decision support the ceasefire plan.
31 July: Negotiations are suspended after Israel was killed of Hamas political leader and chief negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Talks continue two weeks later, initially without Hamas.
October 17: Israeli forces kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar south of Gaza. Netanyahu calls it “the beginning of the end” of the war.
9 November: After months without success, Qatar stops its efforts as a mediator in negotiations. It says Israel and Hamas need to change their positions. Both sides blamed each other for the mishap.
20 November: The US he opposes the draft The UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, says it has “left out” the need for there to be “a link between the ceasefire and the release of the hostages”.
27 November: Israel he agrees to a ceasefire and Lebanon to end a 13-month conflict with the armed group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, which began in the Gaza war. It is reviving hope for a deal in Gaza, with Biden saying he will put more pressure on the region’s forces.
2 December: The president-elect of America is Donald Trump he says there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages still held in Gaza are not released when he returns to the White House on January 20, 2025.
December 17: A senior Palestinian official means indirect speech “they are in the final and final stages”, and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says the deal is closer than ever.
2025
13 January: Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone about the talks during Biden’s last week in office, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. it was an agreement “close” and that he hopes to “get it across the board” before Trump takes office.
15 January: Qatar’s prime minister says Israel and Hamas have agreed on a deal to freeze Gaza and release hostages, and that it will go into effect on January 19. Biden says it will “stop fighting in Gaza, provide much-needed aid to the Palestinian people, and reunite hostages with their families”.
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