A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is set to take effect on Sunday morning, with a hostage release scheduled to follow hours later, potentially marking the beginning of an end to a 15-month war that has deeply affected the Middle East.
As reported by Reuters, Israeli forces have started withdrawing from Gaza's Rafah area towards the Philadelphi corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, according to pro-Hamas media reports.
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached after months of negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, just before the January 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Set to begin at 0630 GMT on Sunday, the three-stage ceasefire will last six weeks. During the first stage, 33 of the remaining 98 hostages—women, children, men over 50, and the ill and wounded—will be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The ceasefire agreement includes the release of 737 prisoners—male, female, and teenage detainees—many of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. Additionally, hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza, detained since the start of the war, will be freed. On Sunday afternoon, three female hostages are expected to be released through the Red Cross in exchange for 30 prisoners each.
Following this, U.S. negotiator Brett McGurk stated that the agreement includes the release of four more female hostages after seven days, with three more hostages to be freed every subsequent week.
The future of Gaza remains uncertain, as there is no comprehensive agreement yet on the postwar rebuilding and governance of the enclave. Rebuilding Gaza will require billions of dollars and years of work.
"I will go to kiss my land," said Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp farther south. “If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person”, AFP reported.
Jerusalem residents said the deal had been a long time coming, AFP reported.
While the ceasefire aims to end the war, there are concerns that it could unravel, especially given Hamas's resilience despite losing top leadership and thousands of fighters. Israel has made it clear that it will not allow Hamas to regain power and has cleared significant ground within Gaza, a move seen as part of efforts to establish a buffer zone that would enable Israeli troops to act more freely against threats within the enclave.
Mideast Shockwaves
The conflict in Gaza has reverberated across the Middle East, sparking a war with the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah and escalating tensions between Israel and Iran for the first time. Over a year later, the Middle East landscape has been transformed. Iran, which invested billions in building a network of militant groups surrounding Israel, has seen its "Axis of Resistance" severely weakened, failing to inflict more than minimal damage on Israel despite launching two major missile attacks.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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