FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 20, 2025

Breakthrough: Fighting stops and prisoner releases start as Israel and Hamas accept Gaza ceasefire

Here's promising news from the Middle East: Israel and the terrorist group Hamas agree on a prisoner exchange and ceasefire in their Gaza Strip war. The three-part deal is complicated and can't erase the devastation, but it's the first breakthrough since Hamas fighters killed 1,200 civilians and snatched 254 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli ground and air retaliation has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians and wounded over 110,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the occupied territory alongside Israel. The deal, which gained a final OK after midnight Friday from Israel's Cabinet, is seen as the best chance to end the costly war. "Fighting in Gaza will stop and soon the hostages will return home to their families," says President Joe Biden, who helped shape the plan. Three women were freed Sunday.

Two Mideast nations, Qatar and Egypt, mediated the agreement alongside Americans from the outgoing and incoming administrations. (Donald Trump is inaugurated Monday as Biden's successor.) The ceasefire began Sunday with a six-week truce, during which Israeli forces will move away from populated areas. Hamas will free another 30 of its roughly 100 surviving hostages. Those getting out first will be women and children, men over 50 and sick or wounded people. For its part, Israel will free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow 600 trucks a day to bring humanitarian relief to Gaza, including 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents.

The remaining hostages still alive are due to come home in March and all remaining Israeli forces are supposed to leave Gaza this spring. "During the next six weeks," Biden said, "Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end of the war." A final stage involves returning the remains of hostages who have been killed and planning reconstruction – a massive challenge. Critically, the two sides also must agree on new Gaza leadership that is not Hamas.

Biden says: "The road to this deal has not been easy. I've worked on foreign policy for decades. This was one of the toughest negotiations I've ever experienced."

Israeli says: "It's what we've been waiting for." -- Daniel Lifshitz, whose 84-year-old grandfather is among the 100 hostages

Blogger says: "Implementation will likely be very dicey, given the deep lack of trust between the parties." – Ilan Goldenberg, foreign policy and defense expert, at Substack

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.