Gaza ceasefire deal agreed by Hamas and Israel, Qatari PM says
Gaza ceasefire deal agreed by Hamas and Israel, Qatari PM says
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Deal to pause 15-month war expected to be officially accepted by Israel after cabinet meeting. Hamas and Israel have agreed a ceasefire deal pausing the war in Gaza and designed to broker an end to the brutal 15-month conflict, the mediator Qatar has said, and it is set to be officially accepted by Israel after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The announcement on Wednesday night from Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, comes after weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha. There were intensified efforts in recent days to hammer out the final details after increased pressure on Israel to reach a deal from the US president-elect, Donald Trump, which Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged in his media conference.
“Both parties should commit totally to all three phrases [of the agreement] to steer away from further bloodshed and steer away escalation in the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said, adding: “We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter of war.”. The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday night before Sheikh Mohammed’s announcement that “several clauses in the framework remain unresolved, and we hope that the details will be finalised tonight”. The issue is believed to relate to a last-minute dispute over the future of the Palestinian territory’s border with Egypt; mediators briefed that the issues had been resolved.
Hamas announced a few hours before Sheikh Mohammed’s news conference that it had formally accepted the terms of the deal. The proposal will be officially accepted by Israel during a cabinet vote on Thursday, and is expected to go into effect shortly afterwards.
