World leaders have welcomed the newly announced ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, emphasising an urgent need for humanitarian aid and a sustainable political solution for the region, as Israel steps-up air strikes on Gaza ahead of the truce's implementation on Sunday.
Israel reportedly intensified strikes on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, as mediators seek to quell fighting ahead of the start of a truce on Sunday.
The complex ceasefire accord between Israel and militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, emerged on Wednesday after months of mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US and 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the territory and inflamed the Middle East.
The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed.
Hostages taken by Hamas will be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday.
Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps to implement the agreement, he said.
World leaders hail ceasefire
"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," US President Joe Biden said in Washington.
His successor, Donald Trump, takes office on Monday and claimed credit for the breakthrough in Gaza.
Global reaction to the ceasefire was enthusiastic.
Leaders and officials of Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, China, Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates – among others – celebrated the news.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the agreement must be "respected" and followed by a "political solution".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added that it was "imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza so that we can support a major increase in urgent life-saving humanitarian support".
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said "both parties must fully implement this agreement, as a stepping stone toward lasting stability in the region".
Israel-Hamas ceasefire must lead to 'political resolution' in Gaza, Macron says
Gaza targets bombarded
Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, with votes slated for later this Thursday.
The accord is expected to win approval despite opposition from some hardliners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.
Significant progress was made in the negotiations once the Biden and Trump administrations began working hand-in-hand to make the case for urgency, according to outgoing US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew.
While people celebrated the pact in Gaza and Israel, Israel's military escalated attacks after the announcement.
Heavy Israeli bombardment – especially in Gaza City – killed 32 people late on Wednesday, while the strikes continued early on Thursday and destroyed houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza and in northern Gaza.
Israel's military said Gaza militants fired a rocket into Israel on Thursday, causing no casualties.
Macron calls Hamas leader's death a 'turning point' in Gaza war
Turning point
If the ceasefire proves to be successful, it will bring an end to fighting that has completely destroyed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed over 46,000 people and displaced most of the enclave's pre-war population of over 2 million.
That in turn could defuse tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has stoked conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between arch regional foes Israel and Iran.
With 98 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 of them – including all women, children and men over 50.
Speaking earlier this Thursday, French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot, told RTL radio that there was "no certainty" about the fate of the two Franco-Israeli hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip – Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi.
However, two American hostages – Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen – are reportedly among those set to be released in the first phase.
The agreement also calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have said they were preparing to scale up their aid operations.
The third stage is to address the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
If all goes smoothly, Palestinians, Arab states and Israel must still agree on a vision for post-war Gaza – including the unanswered question of who will run Gaza after the war.
