A ceasefire could soon be on the horizon in Gaza. Two officials say Hamas has accepted a draft agreement that would halt its war with Israel.
An Israeli official told the Associated Press that the two sides were still finalizing the details. However, the deal could wind down more than 15 months of fighting, which started when Hamas launched attacks into Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking hundreds more as hostages.
Since then, Israel has launched strikes and invaded Gaza, killing at least 46,000 people based on official Palestinian estimates. A peer-reviewed academic study published last week in the top medical journal, The Lancet, suggested that the number could be as high as 64,000.
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested the sides were nearing a deal.
“I believe we will get a ceasefire,” Blinken said. “And whether we get there, the remaining days of our administration or after Jan. 20, I believe the deal will follow closely the terms of the agreement that President Biden put forward last May, and our administration rallied the world behind.”
Under the proposed deal, the two sides would fulfill terms in three phases.
Phase one, the first 42 days, would see Hamas release 33 hostages and Israel release 30 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli soldiers would move further out from the center of Gaza, while displaced Palestinians would move back in.
During phase two, which encompasses the following 42 days, Hamas would release the remaining hostages in exchange for a to-be-determined number of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza.
Phase three would involve exchanges of dead bodies between the two sides, the reopening of Gaza’s border crossings, and a plan to rebuild Gaza.
While officials suggest this is the closest the two sides have come to a deal, previous talks have fallen apart. And the agreement could break if either side fails to meet its requisites during any phase.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would also need his cabinet to approve the deal.
