Jan. 15 (UPI) — A cease-fire announced Wednesday will end the 15-month war between Hamas and Israel and includes the eventual release of all hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
“This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday in a prepared statement.
Biden said he laid out the “precise contours of this plan” on May 31 and the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed it.
The cease-fire “is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a cease-fire [with Hezbollah] in Lebanon and weakening of Iran but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” Biden said.
“It’s long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin,” Biden added.
He said three U.S. families have living members currently held hostage in Gaza while four others await the return of the remains of their family members who died while being held hostage by Hamas.
The cease-fire requires Hamas to release 33 of the remaining 131 hostages held captive in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The remaining hostages are to be released on the 16th day of the cease-fire, which likely will become official on Sunday, CNN reported.
The first hostages to be released would be women, children and men over age 55.
Israel, in return, is to release an undisclosed number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas captured about 250 civilians, including several U.S. citizens, and killed another 1,200 during its unprovoked Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and a music festival.
The United Nations in March reported its special representative on sexual violence in conflict found “clear and convincing information” that many hostages were subject to “rape and sexualized torture” by their Hamas captors.
The United Nations also reported Hamas militants individually and in groups raped women and children during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including some who already had died.
The United States in 1997 designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar brokered the cease-fire deal, which is yet to be announced by Hamas, although senior Hamas official Basem Naim told NBC News a cease-fire agreement had been reached.
Israeli officials have confirmed a cease-fire agreement has been reached during negotiations in Doha, Quatar, The Times of Israel reported.
The cease-fire is to occur in three phases, with the first phase lasting 42 days and requiring the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas.
There is no indication so far when Israel is required to release the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it has jailed.