What are the terms of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement?

After 15 months of brutal fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a ceasefire that will end the conflict in Gaza, with 98 remaining militants in custody.

The multi-step deal – backed and guaranteed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar – will mark the first ceasefire since a week-long truce in November 2023. It will go into effect on Sunday.

If fully implemented, it would permanently end the war that began with the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas on the Jewish state.

How does the ceasefire begin?

The agreement initially calls for a six-week ceasefire in which both sides stop fighting. The deal says the Israeli army will begin redeploying eastward from urban centers around Gaza to so-called “containment zones” along the Palestinian border.

At the end of the first phase, the agreement calls for Israeli troops to vacate the critical north-south bisection known as the Netzarim Corridor and withdraw from Gaza’s border with Egypt within 50 days.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which was seized by Israel last May and largely destroyed, is expected to reopen. This re-establishes the only contact with the outside world that was not directly controlled by Israel before the war.

Will the Palestinians be allowed to go home?

The remaining Gazans, including hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from northern to southern Gaza during the war, will be allowed to return home.

An Israeli official said Israel insisted that a “security arrangement” operated by an unnamed private company be implemented at checkpoints running from south to north. Their aim is to ensure that militants cannot return to northern Gaza, where Hamas launched the bulk of its offensive on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, Israeli officials said.

The deal calls for Israel to allow 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid into the fractured territory every day, half of which will go to famine-stricken northern Gaza, according to international observers.

A devastating Israeli offensive in the north has killed more than 46,000 people, according to health officials in Hamas-controlled territory, and left much of it in ruins.

International aid groups have stated that the infrastructure for bringing food, medicine, fuel and other goods into Gaza should be significantly increased as the amount set by the agreement will at least triple the amount entering Gaza.

Which of the detainees in Gaza will be released?

For Israel, the most important victory in the first phase of the agreement is the return of 33 hostages, including children, civilian women, female soldiers, the over 50s and the wounded, still held by Hamas.

It is not clear how many people who meet this criteria remain alive, although an Israeli official said this week that “many, many” are still alive.

According to the agreement, three female hostages will be released on Sunday and at least three more prisoners will be released every seven days. Crucially for Israel, the living hostages are released first, followed by the dead at the end of six weeks.

What about Palestinian prisoners?

For every civilian hostage freed, Israel promised to release 30 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, a number that rose to 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier. At this stage, the emphasis will be on freeing Gazans who were imprisoned during the war, but not on their involvement in the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 100 Palestinians sentenced to life in prison for murder and terrorism will also be released, some of whom have fled to third countries.

Between 1,000 and 1,650 Palestinians are expected to be freed under this phase of the deal.

Should more details be agreed upon?

No later than the 16th day of the ceasefire, the parties are set to begin negotiating a second – and possibly more difficult – return for the remaining 65 hostages, all men under 50, including soldiers, in full response to Israel. Withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.

The number of Palestinian prisoners released for each Israeli soldier is likely to be much higher in this second phase, which is expected to last six weeks.

Negotiators discussed the third phase of the deal, which would include the return of Israeli hostages and the bodies of Palestinian militants. Reconstruction of Gaza It begins under the control of Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations. Analysts said there is a growing possibility that the second and third stages could be merged.

Can the ceasefire be broken?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he is not willing to end the war until there is “total victory” and the complete “destruction” of Hamas.

This makes a restart after the initial six-week truce a distinct possibility.

However, international pressure – perhaps from the incoming US administration of Donald Trump, who is to blame for the cease-fire – could force Israel’s veteran leader to extend the ceasefire beyond its original level and end the war altogether.

Cartography and data visualization by Aditi Bhandari