Israel-Hamas ceasefire | Highlights: Israel publishes list of 700 Palestinians to be released under truce deal

With the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the path-breaking IMEC Corridor that stretches from India to Europe through the Middle East could now become a reality, US President Joe Biden has said.

Israel intensified strikes on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, residents and authorities in the Palestinian enclave said.

Heavy Israeli bombardment, especially in Gaza City, killed 32 people late on Wednesday, according to medics. The strikes continued early on Thursday and destroyed houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza and in northern Gaza, residents told Reuters.

Three female Israeli civilian hostages are expected to be released on the first day of the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas, according to a document shared by senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, CNN reported.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday’s deal was reached “after months of determined diplomacy,” while cautioning that it “must be implemented rigorously.”

He said in a statement that the deal “can open a new window of hope for Israelis and Palestinians after the months of bloodshed and anguish that followed Hamas’s despicable terrorist assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.”

The secretary also recognised that for all those killed in the war, and their families, this deal “has come too late.”

“The Department again offers our deepest condolences to the families of all of our American citizens killed in this harrowing war, and it renews today our unstinting commitment to bring home the Americans still being held in Gaza and to finally return the remains of our slain fellow citizens to their mourning families,” Austin said.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security advisor Mike Waltz of Florida likened the ceasefire and hostage release deal to when American hostages held at the US Embassy in Tehran were freed just as Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president in 1981.

“This really is a Reagan moment, and we’re quite excited about it,” he told CNN.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, in a formal announcement, said that PM will officially announce the ceasefire agreement with Gaza based Hamas militant group after the final details of the agreement, which it says are currently being worked on, are completed.

The ceasefire deal, which has been accepted by Israel and Hamas, will come into effect on January 19.

US senator Bernie Sanders says the ceasefire in Gaza should be sustained and formalised, and the perpetrators of war crimes on “both sides” must face accountability.

“Both sides must honor the deal and implement it as quickly as possible. The senseless killing must stop. The hostages must be released,” Sanders said in a statement.

“The United Nations and other aid organisations must finally be allowed unfettered access to all areas of the Gaza Strip to provide the massive amounts of humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are struggling to survive, lacking food, water, and medical care in the middle of winter. Innocent lives hang in the balance,” the statement added.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called Donald Trump to thank him after reaching deal with Hamas in Gaza.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President-elect Donald Trump and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families,” the Pm's office posted on X.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller thanked Donald Trump's team after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage deal.

"When it comes to the involvement of President-Elect Trump's team, it has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line. It's been critical because obviously, as I stand here today, this administration's term in office will expire in five days...We, of course, thank the Trump team for working with us on this cease-fire agreement. We think it's important that they were at the table. It shows that when Americans are willing to work together across partisan lines, as we were willing to do on this occasion because it's in the national interests of the United States, a lot can get done.", he said.

Qatar, Egypt, and the United States in a joint statement on Wednesday confirmed that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

It is likely to take effect on January 19, the agreement outlines a three-stage process aimed at securing a "sustainable calm," including the release of hostages and prisoners, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas, and humanitarian aid operation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday that a ceasefire agreement with Hamas is still not complete and the final details are being worked out, reported AP.

Netanyahu's statement comes hours after the United States and Qatar announced the deal, which would pause the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clear the way for dozens of hostages to go home. The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

“The ceasefire and hostage release deal announced between Israel and Hamas is good news – for the families of the hostages taken on October 7th, for the Palestinian civilians who have suffered for more than a year, and for everyone who has prayed for an end to this awful chapter,” former US President Barack Obama wrote on X.

“As the President said, we have reached this point because of the pressure Israel has put on Hamas, while with the backing of the United States. Sinwar was killed. Iran's attacks against Israel failed. Thanks to the support from the United States. Iran is weaker today than it has been in decades," said White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean Pierre.

People came out on the streets of Tel Aviv after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage deal.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the three-step ceasefire agreement secured between Israel and Hamas and said that his administration worked with Trump to help reach the deal. READ MORE

A long-sought Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal emerged at the end of an intense 96 hours of negotiations in Doha brokered by US, Egyptian and Qatari diplomats who persuaded Israel and Hamas finally to agree.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday it was "imperative" the newly struck Gaza ceasefire removes obstacles to aid deliveries as he welcomed the deal that includes a prisoner and hostage exchange.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday the three-step truce agreed between Israel and Hamas includes a "full and complete ceasefire" as part of phase one and a "permanent end to the war" in an unfinalized second phase.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered his statement on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and said his administration and Trump's team were 'speaking as one team' in negotiations on the Gaza deal.

Qatar's Prime Minister on Wednesday confirmed that the ceasefire in Gaza will begin on Sunday, reported AFP.

A short-term surge of aid deliveries into Gaza after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas will be difficult if the deal does not cover security arrangements in the enclave, a senior UN official told Reuters.

Israel will gradually reduce forces in the Philadelphi corridor bordering Egypt during phase 1 of the Gaza ceasefire deal with forces completing their withdrawal no later than day 50, a copy of the deal seen by Reuters.

EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica on Wednesday hailed a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying the bloc "remains committed to supporting all efforts towards a long-lasting peace and recovery", reported AFP.

US President-elect Donald Trump hailed an "epic" ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday -- and claimed credit for an accord that comes days before he is due to be sworn in for his second term.

"This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November," Trump added in a lengthy social media post.