The first six-week phase of the agreement involves the exchange of 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Israeli troops will also withdraw to the east, away from the densely populated areas of Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians will be able to begin returning to their homes, and hundreds of aid trucks will be able to access the area every day.
Talks on the second phase – which should involve the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to “sustainable calm” – will begin on the 16th.
The third and final phase will involve the return of any remaining bodies of the hostages and the rebuilding of Gaza – something that could take years.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and other countries – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and killed 251 others. taken hostage.
More than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Much of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as aid agencies struggle to get aid to those in need.
Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are believed to be dead. There are four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.
