Ceasefire Deal Reached in Gaza

Allison Bennett

Staff Writer

On  January 19, 90  Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jails, and three Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. The Associated Press reports that for the first time in 15 months, the skies above Gaza were silent, while more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were allowed past tight restrictions of Israeli borders. 

Emily Damari, Rome Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher were the first of 33 Israeli hostages who are to be released in the upcoming six weeks, says CNN. The deal includes a pause in fighting, increased fuel and aid deliveries to Gaza, and the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to The Associated Press.

Palestinian prisoners who were freed as part of the ceasefire-hostage release deal said they were held in horrific conditions in an Israeli jail in the occupied West Bank. Most of the 90 prisoners released on Sunday were women and teenagers, including prominent Palestinian political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and activist Khalida Jarrar, says CNN.

Abu Obeida, Hama’s military spokesperson, gave a televised speech confirming that Hamas is committed to the ceasefire deal, stating that this deal could have been reached more than a year ago if it had not been for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s “malicious ambitions,” reports Al Jazeera.

Israel’s top military chief, Herzi Halevi, announced that he would resign in March following the ceasefire deal, marking the highest-level departure in response to the attacks on October 7, 2023, reports The Washington Post. Halevi said his decision was in “recognition of my responsivity for the IDF’s failure on October 7, and at a time when the IDF has significant achievements and is in the process of implanting the agreement to release our hostages.”

Al Jazeera reported in another article that Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, says the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip “is not a permanent solution,” further stating that peace can only be achieved by creating an independent Palestinian state. According to Gheit, Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is “a threat to international peace and security” and its war “did not stop the borders of Gaza or Palestine but has spilled over and its flames have reached the region.”

Following the ceasefire, Israeli officials must allow at least 600 truckloads of aid, including 50 carrying fuel, into the Gaza Strip. Half of the trucks will be directed to northern Gaza, where experts warned famine was imminent, says CNN. A senior United Nations official said that so far, there had been no apparent law-and-order issues in ensuring the flow of aid into the area. The UN estimated that around 60 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, including hospitals and schools. Before the ceasefire, aid, and fuel deliveries into Gaza were heavily restricted, prompting international criticism of Israel. According to local health officials, more than 47,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombings during the conflict. Around 90 percent of Gaza’s population, almost 1.9 million people, have been displaced from their homes and forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters.

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