The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was made effective Jan. 19, beginning the end of the over year-long conflict between the two sides.
The agreed deal is set to bring back the 33 hostages captured by Hamas, out of said 82 that are remaining and will also allow humanitarian aid to get to Gaza to support the people affected by the conflict.
The deal, initially discussed in May of last year, will be carried out in three stages, with the first already in action.
The first stage entails the release of a total of 33 women, children, elderly and wounded Israeli, and other nationality, hostages, some of which have already been freed. In exchange, a large number of Palestinian prisoners will also be released and Israel military forces will leave the major Gazan cities to allow residents to return. Part of this stage also includes increased humanitarian aid in affected areas.
The second stage is an extension of the first, where young male Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will be freed and Israel will agree to conclude the war.
The final stage includes the war’s closure, exchange of deceased individuals on both sides and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
Despite the plan already being carried out, the two final steps are not set in stone and are only agreed to by both sides as a loose plan.
In order to keep the deal in action and bring about the end of the bloody battle, a system of mediators has been set in place to prevent it falling apart. This system has already been tried when Israel claimed Hamas had been harboring a hostage and violating the deals terms, and subsequently did not allow Palestinian prisoners to leave Jan. 25. The issue was swiftly mended with the three mediators, The United States (U.S.), Egypt and Qatar.
There have been multiple updates on the ceasefire, such as five Thai hostages and three Israeli hostages being released Jan. 30, along with the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas military commander, Mohammed Deif, has also been confirmed dead after almost a year of speculation in the media.
As the situation will undoubtedly unfold further, updates on the situation can be expected as the families of the hostages await the return of loved ones.
