Qatar-Brokered truce sets stage for hostage release

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday evening that the final details of the ceasefire agreement and the hostage release are still being finalised in Doha. The implementation of the ceasefire is scheduled for 19 January, coinciding with the release of the first Israeli hostages.

According to the statement, Netanyahu's official announcement regarding the agreement will be published only "after the final details of the agreement, which are currently being worked on, are developed."

This statement was confirmed on Wednesday evening by Qatar's Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. "The details of the agreement will be published in the coming days once they are finalised," he announced.

He explained that a "monitoring mechanism," comprised of representatives from the US, Qatar, and Egypt, will be established and headquartered in Cairo, with the responsibility of overseeing the agreement's implementation. "We hope the mechanism will be ready by Sunday, when the ceasefire will begin," said al-Thani at a press conference.

Earlier on Wednesday, mediators reported that Israel and Hamas reached an agreement in Qatar on a ceasefire after 15 months of conflict in the Gaza Strip. The agreement includes the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Officials from Qatar, which served as a mediator in the talks, and Hamas confirmed the agreement.

According to the Times of Israel, the complex agreement outlines a six-week initial phase of the ceasefire and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

According to a UN report, following Israeli airstrikes, the Gaza Strip was reduced to approximately 42 million metric tonnes of rubble. As Bloomberg graphically described, there's enough debris to form a line of dump trucks stretching from New York to Singapore. Clearing it all could take years and cost up to £570 million, the agency reports.

Once the agreement's implementation begins, Hamas will gradually release 33 Israeli hostages within the first 42 days of the ceasefire. The first three hostages are to be released on the first day of the truce, with four more released on the seventh day. Thereafter, three hostages are to be released every seven days, with the final 14 being released in the last week of the initial phase.

The remaining 65 hostages will be released only if the parties agree on a second phase of the truce. Negotiations on this matter are set to begin approximately two weeks after hostilities cease.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office emphasised that there are "many clauses" in the agreement that are not yet finalised, and that Israel hopes "details will be finalised tonight."

Israel's Channel 12 reported that talks will continue throughout the night to finalise the remaining issues so that the agreement can be signed on Thursday.

According to Israeli media reports, Israel's security cabinet is to meet at 4 PM Greenwhich Time on Thursday to officially approve the agreement. After this, lists of Palestinian prisoners to be released will be published.

According to unofficial reports from Channel 12, the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase includes four civilian women, five female soldiers, as well as Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Ariel and infant Kfir, ten men aged 50 and older, and eleven disabled men.

Channel 12 reports that Hamas claims not all among this group are alive. Although this has not been officially confirmed yet, it is expected to be within the first week of the agreement's implementation. Meanwhile, Israel believes that the majority of the 33 people on the list are alive.

In exchange for releasing 33 hostages, Israel is set to release over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including at least 250 terrorists "with blood on their hands." Some of these prisoners were captured in the Gaza Strip after 7 October 2023. According to the Israeli side, no one involved in the invasion will be released.

As reported by the Times of Israel, it is believed in Israel that 94 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on 7 October 2023 are still in the Gaza Strip, including the bodies of at least 34 people whose deaths have been confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a week-long ceasefire at the end of November 2023, and four hostages were released earlier. Eight hostages were rescued alive by the military, and the bodies of 40 hostages were recovered, including three who were mistakenly killed by the military while attempting to escape their captors.

Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two Israeli Defense Forces soldiers who died in 2014.