Gaza ceasefire: What is the deal and how would it work?

Published

12 months ago

June 2, 2024

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In a surprise announcement on Friday, President Joe Biden said Israel had offered Hamas a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza.

Mr Biden outlined the proposal’s three phases during an address at the White House.

However, since the announcement, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the proposal is a “non-starter” until Israel’s long-standing conditions for ending the war are met. Hamas said it viewed the proposal “positively”.

Here’s a look at what we know about the deal so far, how it compares with previous proposals and how both sides have reacted to the US president’s address.

First phase

This would be a “full and complete ceasefire” lasting six weeks, Mr Biden said, adding it would see Israeli forces withdraw from all densely populated areas of Gaza.

During this time, Hamas would release an unspecified number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

American hostages would be released at this stage, the US president said, adding the remains of some hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families.

Palestinian civilians would return to their homes and neighbourhoods across Gaza and humanitarian assistance would surge during the first phase, with 600 trucks being allowed into Gaza each day.

He said Israel and Hamas would negotiate a permanent end to the fighting while this ceasefire was in place. If the negotiations were to take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire would continue for as long as it takes to strike a deal, he added.

Second phase

Mr Biden described this as a “permanent end to hostilities”.

It would include the release of all remaining living Israeli hostages, including male soldiers, and Israel would withdraw all its forces from Gaza.

The president admitted there were “a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two”.

Third phase

The final phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from devastation caused by the war.

Any final remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families.

What has Israel said?

The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, released a statement on X after Mr Biden’s address.

It read: “The government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal.

“The prime minister authorised the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.

“The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”

While Mr Netanyahu’s office confirmed he authorised negotiators to present the deal, sources close to the Israeli prime minister have told Sky News they do not “wholly recognise or agree with” the proposal outlined by Mr Biden.

In a further statement on Saturday morning, Mr Netanyahu’s office said: “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”

Israel’s government has always maintained its objective in the Gaza offensive is to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the attack by the group on 7 October.

What has Hamas said?

The militant group said it “views positively” what was included in Mr Biden’s speech, adding it will deal “constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that”.

How does this compare to the last ceasefire proposal?

Hamas claimed it agreed to a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar last month, which was similarly said to have three phases.

That proposal came after two days of talks in Cairo, with a delegation from Hamas – and intermediaries from Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on Friday said the ceasefire deal Israel has agreed to now is “nearly identical to Hamas’s own proposals of only a few weeks ago”.

But Mr Netanyahu’s office previously said the truce proposal published by Hamas fell short of its demands, and an Israeli official described the Hamas deal announcement as “a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal”.

Here’s what Hamas claimed the proposal last month would have looked like:

First phase

Fighting would have paused for 42 days and Hamas would have released 33 hostages, including the remaining Israeli women – both civilians and soldiers – as well as people under age 19 who weren’t soldiers, adults over 50 and people who were ill.

Israel would have released 30 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for each Israeli civilian hostage and 50 in exchange for each female soldier.

IDF troops would have started withdrawing from Gaza in phases and displaced Palestinians would begin returning to their home neighbourhoods.

Israel would allow “intensive and sufficient quantities” of humanitarian aid, with 600 trucks entering Gaza daily.

Second phase

This would also have lasted 42 days, but similarly to the new proposal, the exact terms of this phase would need to be negotiated during the first.

Hamas said it may have entailed the release of all the remaining Israeli men, both civilians and soldiers, in Gaza. In return, Israel could have freed an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But the group said all Israeli troops must have withdrawn from Gaza in order for the second phase to begin.

Third phase

This would have included the release of the remains of deceased hostages still in Gaza, more prisoners held by Israel, and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan, Hamas claimed.

Hamas also wanted an end to the blockade on Gaza by Israel in cooperation with Egypt at this point.

The plan also stated Hamas would agree not to rebuild its military arsenal.

Has there been a ceasefire since Israel’s offensive began?

There was a temporary pause in place from 24 November to 1 December last year.

During that time, 79 Israeli hostages were released by Hamas, with hundreds of Palestinians freed from prisons in exchange.

International mediators – including diplomats from Qatar, Egypt and the US – had been working to extend the temporary truce, but reaching agreements on hostage releases became harder as most women and children had already been released.

Israel’s military ultimately resumed combat in Gaza on 1 December after accusing Hamas of violating the seven-day truce.

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‘The capital is under attack’: Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

Published

15 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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'The capital is under attack': Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

Russia has launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight, after Moscow itself was targeted.

Amid flailing peace talks, the Kremlin’s nightly attacks on Ukraine continued.

Ukraine war – follow the latest updates

A large-scale Russian attack through the night into Sunday injured at least 11 in Kyiv and killed three people in towns surrounding the capital.

There were attacks elsewhere as well, including drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.

‘Massive’ attack

In Kyiv, the city’s administration warned “the night will be difficult”, as people were urged to remain in shelters.

The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a “massive” attack.

He said: “Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters!”

It came after at least 15 people were injured in attacks the night prior.

Russia claimed it also faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday, and that it intercepted and destroyed around 100 of them near Moscow and across Russia’s central and southern regions.

Russia ‘dragging out the war’

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of cooperation in the war.

Amid the most recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his calls for sanctions on Russia.

Russia “fills each day with horror and murder” and is “simply dragging out the war”, he said.

“All of this demands a response – a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end,” Mr Zelenskyy added.

Every day “gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia”, he said, and each day without pressure proves the “war will continue”.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is ready for “any form of diplomacy that delivers real results”.

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Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Published

1 day ago

May 24, 2025

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Nine of Gazan doctor's 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.

Warning: This article contains details of child deaths

Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.

Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.

Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.

In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.

The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.

“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack

Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.

Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.

The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.

Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.

‘No political or military connections’

Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.

“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”

He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”

Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

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UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

Published

2 days ago

May 24, 2025

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UN's Antonio Guterres condemns 'teaspoon' of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.

He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.

Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.

The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.

Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.

Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.

The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.

The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.

The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.

But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.

Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.

The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.