--- title: "Gaza Ceasefire Agreed To, Final Israeli Approval Pending (Updated)" description: "After more than a year of fighting, a Gaza deal that includes the release of Israeli hostages is expected to be implemented within days." date: "2025-01-15" modified: "2025-01-15" authors: - name: "Thomas Newdick" job_title: "Staff Writer" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/thomas-newdick" - name: "Howard Altman" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/howard-altman" url: "https://www.twz.com/news-features/gaza-ceasefire-agreed-to-final-israeli-approval-pending" categories: - "Around The Globe" - "Israel" - "Middle East" - "News & Features" tags: - "Gaza Strip" - "hamas" --- # Gaza Ceasefire Agreed To, Final Israeli Approval Pending (Updated) ![Members of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, arrive in a vehicle at a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 15, 2025, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Thousands of Gazans celebrated on January 15 as news spread that a ceasefire and hostage release deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas, aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory.]() *Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images* Israeli and Hamas officials [have reached a deal]() to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza and to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. News of the deal has been confirmed by Hamas, Qatari, and U.S. officials, although Israel is yet to make a statement. The deal, however, is contingent on approval by Israel's cabinet, which is [reportedly preparing to meet and ratify it](), amid rightwing threats to bring Benjamin Netanyahu’s government down if it is approved. The news that the bloody conflict, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, with [a surprise attack on Israel by Hamas](), could be coming to an end emerged as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued. Overall, the death toll in the conflict has exceeded 47,000 people, the overwhelming majority of them Palestinian, according to [United Nations figures](). https://www.twitter.com/JacobMagid/status/1879569231181934694 "The deal is expected to deliver an initial six-week halt to fighting that is to be accompanied by the opening of negotiations on ending the war altogether," [*The Associated Press* reported](). It involves the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the phased release of hostages held by Hamas, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees held by Israel. The Israeli military has already codenamed the operation to start returning hostages "Wings of Freedom." The name "Sparrow Wings" has also been reported, which may be another translation. https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1879592341272727778 https://www.twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1879590099509559381 "Over six weeks, 33 of the nearly 100 hostages are to be reunited with their loved ones after months in captivity with no contact with the outside world, though it’s unclear if all are alive," according to the *AP*. According to a Hamas official, the group’s leader, Khalil al-Hayya delivered approval of the ceasefire agreement to mediators from Qatar and Egypt in Doha, the Qatari capital. The deal was hammered out in meetings hosted by Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, alongside negotiators from Hamas and Israel. According to the *BBC*, 98 hostages [remain]() in Hamas captivity. Otherwise, it’s expected that the deal will allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to their homes and help bring badly needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. https://www.twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1879586339110429158 https://www.twitter.com/John_Hudson/status/1879587604221558980 One U.S. official said that it was expected that the ceasefire would be implemented in the coming days. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump also [posted]() the following statement to the Truth Social platform: "WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!" https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1879579824135761974 Previous reports, citing an Israeli official, suggested that the ceasefire talks might almost have been derailed at the last moment. According to that official, the issue involved [the Philadelphi corridor ]()— a strip of land roughly nine miles long, and 100 yards wide, along Gaza’s border with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing. *AP* reports that Hamas was unhappy with the arrangements for the strategic corridor, specifically the maps that were approved by the Israeli cabinet, although this seems to have been resolved. https://www.twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1879590915670745368 There are other signs, too, that approval for the deal was very much on a knife’s edge. Earlier today, the office of the Israeli prime minister denied initial reports that Hamas had agreed to an outline deal for a limited release of hostages, a ceasefire, and partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. “Contrary to reports, the Hamas terror organization has not yet returned its response to the deal,” the prime minister’s office [said](). Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes continued in the past 24 hours in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces on its official Telegram channel claimed that yesterday it struck “more than 50 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorist cells, weapons storage facilities, underground infrastructure, anti-tank fire positions, and Hamas military structures.” https://www.twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1879451382438097063 *Al Jazeera* [reported]() today that overnight Israeli attacks in Gaza had killed 24, including two people “in an Israeli drone attack on Khirbet al-Adas area, north of the city of Rafah.” Overall, the ceasefire agreement has essentially been on the table [since May of last year](). Hamas's position has been weakened significantly since then. In addition, *The* *Washington Post*, [citing a diplomat]() briefed on the ceasefire negotiations, credited progress in the talks in part to the influence of Trump, saying it was “the first time there has been real pressure on the Israeli side to accept a deal.” More broadly, the conflict that began on Oct. 7, 2023, has also radically reshaped the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. It has also seen Israel [decimate Hezbollah in Lebanon]() and by going after proxy groups like these, this has dramatically weakened Iran's influence over the region, a dynamic that has been reinforced by the [fall of the Assad regime in Syria](). Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen do also continue to launch attacks on Israel, as well as on foreign warships and commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea. Shiite militias in Iraq are also still in play. As for Gaza, there are now big questions about how the territory will be rebuilt and how it will be governed. While the pre-war Hamas leadership has been taken out and its forces greatly weakened, there is plenty of resentment against Israel that could help the group to reconstitute or something else take its place. This is a developing story. We will update it as more news comes in about this deal. ***Update: 3:21 PM Eastern -*** During a press conference earlier today confirming the deal, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, laid out some details of how it will work, [the *Guardian* reported](). It will go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, he said. The first phase, which will last 42 days, will involve Israeli forces positioned along the Gaza border, Al Thani explained. As part of the phase, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives, including civilian women as well as children, elderly people, and civilians who are wounded or ill. In return, Israel will release a number of prisoners who are being held in Israeli prisons, he said. The phase will also include the return of displaced people to their homes, facilitate the travel of wounded and sick people in order to receive treatment, the increased flow of relief and humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers, and bakeries. It will allow for the entry of fuel and civil defense equipment, as well as basic necessities for displaced people who lost their homes as a result of the war. Details of the next two phases will be finalized during the implementation of the first phase, he added. “Hopefully this will be the last page in the days of the war,” Al Thani posited, stressing the “necessity of both sides committing to the implementation of all three stages of the agreement” in order to “prevent civilian bloodshed.” Asked whether pressure from Trump pushed the deal to fruition, Al Thani suggested that there has been a “momentum” that started to build in the last month, and that he has seen a “clear demonstration” of U.S. commitment to reach a deal within the past few days. “We have seen steps that have been taken recently from the U.S. that have yielded to this moment,” he noted. https://twitter.com/cnnipr/status/1879607962769191191 U.S. President Joe Biden also announced the deal. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1879603332785819760 https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1879609721994485938 White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Trump was instrumental in getting the deal done. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1879629553733448021?s=12 News of the deal was celebrated in Gaza. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1879587699855929631 https://twitter.com/realzaidzayn/status/1879587540728258910 After the deal was announced, long convoys of trucks carrying humanitarian aid were seen entering the southern Gaza Strip via Salah al-Din Street. https://twitter.com/ariel_oseran/status/1879617209317662752 *Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com* ## Author Thomas Newdick is a staff writer at *TWZ*, where he covers military aviation, defense technology, weapons systems, and international security. Based in Berlin, Germany, he reports on conflicts, military modernization efforts, and emerging aerospace technologies around the world, with a particular interest in airpower and its role in contemporary warfare. His reporting is informed by deep expertise in modern and historical airpower, particularly in Europe, with a focus on military aviation, air campaigns, and aerospace developments across the continent and beyond. Over a journalism career spanning more than 25 years, Thomas has become known for making complex defense and aerospace topics accessible to a broad audience. His reporting combines technical expertise, historical context, and a focus on the real-world operational and strategic implications of military developments. ### Author social links [Twitter]()