An agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas on Trump's plan, which is expected to bring about a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Israel and Hamas have accepted the so-called "peace plan" for the Gaza Strip. The announcement was made on the social platform Truth by US president Donald Trump, who had presented the agreement in recent days. It provides for a partial withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, except from the southern area of Rafah. Hamas will release the last Israeli hostages still alive and hand over the bodies of those who have died, while Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian people held, often illegally, in its prisons. Hundreds of humanitarian trucks will also enter the Strip, while negotiations over the administration and reconstruction of the Palestinian territory are still ongoing.
US president Donald Trump announced it as a "strong, lasting and eternal Peace". After two years and two days of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, a genocide that has cost the lives of at least 67,000 people, that has destroyed or damaged around 60 per cent of buildings and has plunged nine out of ten people into food insecurity, Israel and Hamas have accepted the so-called "peace plan" presented in recent days by the US administration and also mediated by Qatar and Egypt.
The agreement provides for a first phase to be implemented within 72 hours. The Israeli army is expected to withdraw from almost the entirety of the Gaza Strip, maintaining its positions in Rafah, in the south of the Palestinian territory. Hamas is called upon to release the twenty Israeli hostages still alive in its hands and to hand over the bodies of those who have died. Hundreds of humanitarian trucks will enter Gaza every day, after Israel spent two years obstructing by every means the distribution of food, medicines and other essential goods. Israel will release around 1,700 Palestinians imprisoned, often without charges or trial, in its jails, including many minors.
The medium-to-long-term phases of the agreement are still under negotiation. Trump's original plan provides for a definitive withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip and the creation of a kind of buffer zone. Hamas is expected to be demilitarised and excluded from the political administration of the Palestinian territory, which is to be temporarily entrusted to an international body led by former British prime minister Tony Blair. These points will, however, be discussed in the coming days, as the first phase of the agreement is implemented.
In the meantime, institutional and civil society reactions to the ceasefire announcement were not long in coming. In the Gaza Strip and in Israeli cities, people took to the streets to celebrate. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a "great day for Israel", while Hamas stressed that this marks "the end of the Israeli occupation". UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the parties to honour the agreement.
