Israel’s cabinet voted 24-8 on 17 January 2025 to accept a ceasefire with Hamas, and the truce was due to start two days later at 4pm local time on Sunday, 19 January. The vote followed more than 460 days of fighting.
The text had been settled on Wednesday, 15 January. Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the mediators had worked for “411 days” on its terms. The United States, Egypt and Qatar brokered it, and the three countries agreed to staff a joint team in Cairo to monitor how it was carried out.
Three phases, one detailed
Only the first phase was spelled out. It ran six weeks. Israeli forces were to pull back from Gaza’s population centers while keeping positions along the Philadelphi Corridor and the buffer zones. Palestinian civilians could return home, aid was to increase sharply, and some of Gaza’s wounded could leave for treatment.
The exchange was the core of it. Hamas would free 33 hostages, three women on the first day, four more after seven days, then three every seven days after that. US negotiator Brett McGurk said the first three would reach Israel through the Red Cross by Sunday afternoon. Israel would release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners arrested after 8 October 2023, and trade nine ill or injured hostages for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences. Al Jazeera put the overall swap at roughly 1,700 Palestinian prisoners for about 33 Israeli captives across 42 days, and reported that Israel published a list of 737 detainees for release in the first phase.
Phases two and three were left thin. “The second and third phases are less developed, and the details will be decided during the first phase,” Al Thani said. Talks on phase two were to open on day 16.
Doubts from the start
Hamas called the deal a “crucial turning point.” Inside Netanyahu’s coalition, opposition was significant, and Al Jazeera’s correspondent questioned whether the ceasefire would “get past the first phase.” Israeli attacks continued after the announcement, killing about 120 people in the days before the cabinet vote, according to the same report.
The doubts proved justified. On Tuesday, 18 March 2025, Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza and killed at least 404 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which said most of the dead were women and children and that more than 560 were wounded. Reports on the collapse said Hamas had rejected an Israeli demand to give up control without a pledge to end the war, while Netanyahu insisted on military pressure. Qatar and Egypt condemned the strikes. Turkey called them a “new phase in genocide policy.” Families of the hostages still held in Gaza voiced alarm for their relatives.
The ceasefire had lasted from 19 January to 18 March 2025.
Sources
- What's in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire and hostage release deal
- Israeli cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas
- Gaza Airstrikes Kill 400 as Ceasefire Collapses
