After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas sign a ceasefire; truce begins Sunday

Negotiators reached a phased deal on Wednesday to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the U.S. and Qatar said, after 15 months of bloodshed that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.

The complex accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held 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 implementing the deal, he said.

"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," U.S. President Joe Biden said in Washington.

Palestinians celebrated in streets of Gaza - where they have faced an acute humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food, water and fuel.

"I am happy, yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy," said Ghada, a displaced mother of five.

Families of Israeli hostages and their friends rejoiced at news of the deal in Tel Aviv.

"We, the families of 98 hostages, welcome with overwhelming joy and relief the agreement to bring our loved ones home," the hostage families' group said in a statement.

The pact follows months of tortuous, on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and comes just ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also welcomed the agreement in a post on X.

If successful, the planned phased ceasefire would halt fighting that has reduced much of heavily urbanised Gaza to ruin and displaced most of the tiny enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million. The death toll is still rising daily.

Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the accord was "a great gain." The group, Gaza's dominant Palestinian militant power, told Reuters its delegation had handed mediators its approval for the ceasefire agreement and return of hostages.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas had dropped a last-minute demand and there were still a number of unresolved items in the deal. "We hope that the details will be closed tonight," it said in a statement.

Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.

Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people struggling through the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.