War: Israel, Hamas finally agree ceasefire deal

Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal to pause the war in Gaza.

The deal is designed to broker an end to the brutal 15-month conflict, the mediator Qatar has said.

The agreement is set to be officially accepted by Israel after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The announcement was made on Wednesday night by Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

The deal was reached after weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha.

There were intensified efforts in recent days to hammer out the final details after increased pressure on Israel to reach a deal from the US president-elect, Donald Trump, who Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged in his media conference.

“The two belligerents in the Gaza Strip have reached a deal on the prisoner and the hostage swap, and [the mediators] announce a ceasefire in the hopes of reaching a permanent ceasefire between the two sides.

“Both parties should commit totally to all three phrases [of the agreement] to steer away from further bloodshed and steer away escalation in the region,” he said.

Sheikh Mohammed added: “We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter of war.”

Immediately afterwards, the US president, Joe Biden said that his administration negotiated the deal but that Trump’s team will soon be charged with making sure it is implemented.

The incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined the White House’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk as the talks came to fruition in Doha, Biden said.

“For the past few days, we have been speaking as one team,” Biden said.

Late on Wednesday, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke separately to Biden and Trump to thank them for helping to secure the deal, his office said.

“The prime minister thanked President-elect Trump for his help in advancing the release of the hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a first acknowledgement of a deal, adding that the two agreed to meet “soon” in Washington.

The statement said Netanyahu then spoke with Biden.

Hamas announced a few hours earlier that it had formally accepted the terms of the deal.

In a statement later on Wednesday, the group’s acting chief, Khalil al-Hayya, said that “Israel failed to achieve its goals in Gaza.”

“On behalf of all the victims, every drop of blood spilt and every tear of pain and oppression, we say: We will not forget, and we will not forgive,” he added.