A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement took effect in Gaza, offering more than two million Palestinians in the enclave some respite after 15 months of devastating war.

The first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement will see the release of some Israeli prisoners held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a gradual Israeli withdrawal to the Gaza border with Israel, and a significant increase in humanitarian access.

It is hoped that the first phase will pave the way for the second and third phases, which will lead to the release of all prisoners and a permanent ceasefire.

The road to this latest agreement has been long and full of false starts. Here’s a look at this deal’s journey since the war began on October 7, 2023.

The first truce

After more than six weeks of fighting that destroyed large areas of Gaza and killed thousands, Israel and Hamas Agreeing on a four-day truce on November 21, 2023.

In the weeks since Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, the Israeli military has relentlessly bombed Gaza with air and ground attacks, killing more than 14,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

In addition, an estimated 1.7 million Palestinians were displaced and forced by the Israeli army to flee to the southern areas of the Strip.

After weeks of frenetic negotiations led by Qatar, and on multiple occasions when a deal appeared on the horizon before collapsing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a meeting of his cabinet, which then voted to approve the armistice agreement.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups held about 250 prisoners following the attack on October 7. As part of the November agreement, 110 prisoners were released.

Israel released more than 240 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women and children.

the The truce was extended for seven daysBut Netanyahu made it clear that Israel has not ended its war on Gaza and that the cessation of fighting is only temporary. Israel resumed its war on Gaza on December 1, 2023.

International pressure

As the Israeli war on Gaza intensified, protests erupted around the world.

It is worth noting that college students in the United States held Protests and sit-ins on campus That attracted global attention.

As the war continued, some European countries officially joined Recognized The State of Palestine, including Ireland, Spain and Norway.

South Africa also provided A The issue of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice, which was later supported by at least 14 countries, including Belgium, Colombia, Turkey, Egypt, Chile and Spain.

Negotiations are ongoing

In May 2024, as the war on Gaza entered its eighth month, hopes for a possible ceasefire multiplied as talks progressed.

In Cairo, Egyptian and Qatari officials worked with the Americans to reach an agreement — and then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on May 6 that his movement had accepted the proposal. The Palestinians began celebrating in the streets of Gaza.

This agreement, which will take place in three stages, stipulates that Hamas will release 33 Israeli prisoners in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons over a period of 42 days. In the second phase, the Israeli army will withdraw completely from Gaza.

But Israel said it did not agree to the terms of the ceasefire. Shortly after, Israel launched an invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Then in late May, US President Joe Biden said Israel had done so Agreement on a “permanent ceasefire proposal”. But Netanyahu later rejected the plan and continued the war.

Lebanon was

Israel and Hezbollah began attacking each other on October 8, 2023, with the Lebanese group saying it was firing at Israel in solidarity with Gaza. On September 23, 2024, Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon, More than 550 people were killed In one day. The attack came just days after the infamous Paging and wireless communication attacksA few days before the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

A few days later, on October 1, 2024, Israel invaded southern Lebanon.

Analyst Hamza Attar told Al Jazeera that he believes Israel’s goals in Gaza were achieved in early 2024, but the war extended to carry out attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A ceasefire was announced on 27 November, which will lead to Hezbollah withdrawing its military infrastructure north of the Litani River and the Lebanese Armed Forces deploying to southern Lebanon. The ceasefire agreement also stipulates the need for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon before the end of the 60-day ceasefire period.

Israeli forces are still present in the border towns and are destroying homes and villages before withdrawing.

Orders of the International Court of Justice

In November 2024, the International Court of Justice He issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Many countries said they would respect the court’s decision, although the United States rejected the ruling and some officials threatened the court.

Trump enters the fray

On December 2, US President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media that there would be “hell to pay” if prisoners in Gaza were not released before he took office. He repeated his demands later in December and again in early January.

Regional negotiations, including ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, have reportedly been coordinated between the Biden administration and some countries Expatriate officials From the new Trump administration.

An agreement has been reached

On January 15, negotiators reportedly… I reached an agreement 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.

An Israeli Cabinet meeting approved the agreement on Saturday, despite opposition from far-right ministers.

The ceasefire was scheduled to begin at 8:30 am local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday 19 January. Shortly before this time, Netanyahu issued a statement saying that he would not begin until Hamas provided the names of the first three Israeli prisoners to be shot. Released. Hamas attributed the delay in handing over names to “field technical reasons.”

After Hamas released the names, the ceasefire went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time (09:15 GMT).

As with the agreement proposed in May, this ceasefire is scheduled to be implemented in three phases. The first phase lasts 42 days with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Israeli military must also withdraw from populated areas in Gaza, allowing Palestinians to return to neighborhoods across the Strip while allowing an increase in humanitarian aid to pass through. The United Nations and other bodies and organizations accused the Israelis of preventing aid from reaching Gaza during most of last year.

Throughout the various negotiations, US officials often blamed Hamas for its failure to agree to the terms of the ceasefire agreement. However, in the run-up to the agreement, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir claimed that he had repeatedly obstructed ceasefire agreements over the past 15 months.