Ceasefire in Gaza: The Fragile Agreement Between Israel and Hamas
On December 19th, 2024, a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas entered into force in Gaza, halting the onslaught that has razed most of the Strip to the ground in the past fifteen months (Ewing, 2025; Shotter et al., 2025). The agreement followed months of draining negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States (Mills & Mackenzie, 2025). It involves three stages, the first of which started with a few hours delay, displaying the truce’s fragility (Boxerman, 2025). The deal should last 42 days and provide for the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons (Livni & Boxerman, 2025). Moreover, Israel will have to withdraw its forces from Gaza’s population centres to areas no more than 700 metres inside Gaza’s border with Israel, allowing civilians to return to what remains of their homes and a surge of aid into the enclave (Al Jazeera Staff, 2025).