After 15 long months of bloodshed and pandemonium, the war in Gaza is coming to a close. The world would be relieved to hear this news. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and the release of hostages. The prime minister of Qatar, the main mediator in the peace effort, has announced that the ceasefire will come into effect on Sunday.
Although US President-elect Donald Trump announced the agreement, the agreed deal was the one proposed by outgoing US President Joe Biden. Months of mediation between the US, Egypt, and Qatar have resulted in a three-phase ceasefire agreement. Hamas will release 33 hostages in the first six-week phase. In return, Israel will release about a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
Once the ceasefire comes into effect, the Israeli army will move from the densely populated area of Gaza to the "buffer zone" in the east. This means that the Israeli army will not completely withdraw from Gaza. Israel has no history of ceding the occupied territories. Another decision in the agreement is that food, fuel and other related goods will be delivered to Gaza immediately, arguably the most pivotal one from the pact. Many Palestinians in the war zone are suffering from food and medicine shortages. The war, which began in October 2023, has claimed the lives of 46,707 people so far, according to official figures. 17,492 of them are children. More than 100,000 people were injured and 19 lakh people were forced to flee their native places.
Although Biden stated that the peace agreement was a result of American diplomacy and behind-the-scenes negotiations, it is clear that Trump's great victory in the US presidential election implicitly led to the end of the Gaza war. Biden's last-minute push for the peace agreement will invariably give him the laurel of the US president who ended the Gaza war. On another note, if wanted, the US could have ended the war in the first month itself, but that is after all another story.
On October 7, 2023, an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants triggered a gruesome retaliation from Israel that lasted for more than 15 months. Hamas members infiltrated Israel by land, air and sea and killed around 1200 people. 251 people were kidnapped.
Gaza has an area of only 360 square kilometres and a population of 2.3 million people. The devastation Israel has wreaked on this city is indescribable. The conflict in Gaza has also managed to bring the entire West Asia to the brink of war. Crucial questions remain about the future of Gaza and the leader assigned to rule the war-torn nation.