Notably, the latest Israel-Hamas peace deal comes after multiple failed attempts to de-escalate the two-year-old war that started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage.
US Presidentย Donald Trumpย announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to implement the first phase of a peace deal aimed at ending the two-year conflict in the region. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America,” Trump said inย a Truth Social post.
Leaders from Israel, Hamas and mediator Qatar subsequently confirmed the deal and shared details on X. โAn agreement was reached on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid,” Qatarโs Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansariย wrote on X.
Notably, the peace deal comes after multiple failed attempts to de-escalate the two-year-old war that started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and takingย 251 people hostage.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza, paving the way for a pause in the fighting and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
As part of the peace deal, Hamas is expected to release all 20 living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not fully been made public.
Know all about Trump’s Gaza peace plan
The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel two years ago.
Under the plan, Israel would maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza.
The US would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort in Gaza. The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority โ something Netanyahu opposes.
What has been the fate of earlier attempts for peace with Hamas?
Now, lets take a look at how has been the fate of earlier attempts for a peace deal with Hamas and why it failed time and again?
First peace deal agreed on November 21, 2023
After more than six weeks of fighting that destroyed several areas of Gaza and killed thousands, Israel and Hamasย agreed to a four-day peace deal on November 21, 2023.
After the Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed 1,200 people, the Israeli army had relentlessly bombarded Gaza with air and ground attacks, killing more than 14,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Moreover, an estimated 1.7 million Palestinians had been displaced and forced by the Israeli army to flee to the southern areas of the Strip.
After weeks of hectic negotiations by Qatar and multiple instances when a deal appeared on the horizon before falling apart, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a meeting of his cabinet, which then voted to approve a truce deal.
As part of the peace deal, Israel released more than 240 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women and children.
However, the deal continued for seven more days only and Netanyahu made it clear that Israel was not ending its war on Gaza and that the halt in fighting was only temporary. Then, Israel resumed its war on Gaza on December 1, 2023.
Second peace deal agreed on May 6, 2024
In an effort to bring peace in the region, Egyptian and Qatari officials worked with the Americans in Cairo to find an agreement โ then, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on May 6 that his group had accepted a proposal. And then the Palestinians started to celebrate in the streets of Gaza.
That agreement stated that Hamas would release 33 Israeli captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons over the course of 42 days. In the second phase, the Israeli army would fully withdraw from Gaza.
However, Israel said it had not agreed to the terms of the ceasefire. Soon after, Israel launched an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Then in late May, US President Joe Biden said Israel hadย agreed to an โenduring ceasefire proposalโ. But Netanyahu later rejected the plan and carried on the war.
Third peace deal agreed on January 15, 2025
Another peace deal was agreed on January 15ย after 15 months of war in which at least tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed. Some estimates put the death toll at more than 100,000.
The ceasefire was supposed to begin at 8:30am local time (06:30GMT) on January 19. But just before this time, Netanyahu issued a statement saying it would not start until Hamas provided the names of the first three Israeli captives to be released. Hamas attributed the delay in handing over the names to โtechnical field reasonsโ. After Hamas released the names, the ceasefire came into effect at 11:15am local time (09:15GMT)
Through all these negotiations, the US officials often laid the blame on Hamas for failing to agree to the terms of a ceasefire agreement. All these previous peace deals could not be successful and now the US President hopes the deal will work this time and the year-long war will come to an end.
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Israel, Hamas sign first phase of Gaza peace deal; hostage release, troop withdrawal in the offing