Ceasefire Takes Hold in Gaza as Hostages and Prisoners Begin Return

GAZA CITY — At exactly 11:15 a.m. on 19 January, the first quiet hour in more than a year settled over the Gaza Strip. No airstrikes. No rocket sirens. A ceasefire that mediators had chased across half a dozen failed attempts finally took effect, pausing a war that killed over 46,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities and displaced almost the entire population of the enclave.

Within hours, three Israeli women held hostage since the 7 October 2023 attack were handed to the Red Cross in Gaza City, driven through chaotic crowds and transferred to Israeli forces. In exchange, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer military prison and a detention centre in Jerusalem, busing them to the West Bank where they were met with cheering crowds.

The agreement is structured in three phases. The first, to last six weeks, requires Hamas to free 33 Israeli hostages — women, children, men over 50, and those with serious medical conditions — in return for roughly 1,900 Palestinian detainees, many of them women and teenagers. Israeli forces must withdraw from populated areas of Gaza toward the border, and displaced civilians will be allowed to return north through a security corridor. Aid deliveries, which had slowed to a trickle, are supposed to surge to 600 trucks a day.

By the third day of the truce, the sound of rubble clearing replaced explosions. Families walked north on foot along the coastal road, carrying whatever they could. Some found only craters where their homes once stood. The scale of destruction is difficult to overstate. Whole neighbourhoods in Jabalia, Khan Younis, and Gaza City have been reduced to grey fields of debris. The United Nations has estimated that clearing the rubble could take over a decade and cost upwards of $1.2 billion.

The ceasefire was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, with the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump team both claiming credit for the final push. The deal nearly collapsed several times in the final 48 hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his cabinet vote, accusing Hamas of reneging on last-minute details. Hamas denied the charge. Mediators shuttled between hotel rooms in Doha, telephones pressed to their ears, until an agreement was finally inked.

For the families of hostages, the truce brought a mixture of relief and dread. More than 90 people captured on 7 October remain in Gaza, and not all are believed to be alive. The Red Cross has not yet been permitted to visit all of them. The phased nature of the deal means the most difficult negotiations — over the release of male soldiers and the bodies of the dead — are kicked to a second stage that will be negotiated while the truce is already in effect.

Israel’s security cabinet accepted the agreement after intense internal pressure. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned in protest, calling the deal a surrender. Netanyahu retains a workable majority, but his coalition is now narrower and more volatile.

What happens after the first six weeks remains deeply uncertain. The language in the agreement allows either side to effectively stall progress to a permanent ceasefire. Hamas insists the war must end completely and Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza entirely. Israel has stated it will not accept an arrangement that leaves Hamas in power or its military capabilities intact.

The region is watching to see if the pause holds and whether it can become something more permanent. For now, the quiet is enough.