Ceasefire in Gaza
Soldiers and militants from Israel and the Gaza Strip have been fighting since October 7, 2023. On that day, over 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-initiated attack. In the 9 months following, that number rose to 37,000 people, including soldiers and civilians. Now, around the 15 month mark, that death toll has increased to over 60,000, with more than 110,000 wounded.
Through all the bloodshed and violence, ceasefires and armistices have been continually negotiated. And finally in early January, 2025, it began to look like the war was coming to an end. With aid from both the Biden Administration and President-Elect Donald Trump and his team, the United States had begun negotiating a ceasefire that will go into effect Sunday, January 19, 2025.
Details of the Ceasefire Hostage Deal
The hostage deal has 3 phases, the first is the most extensive, while the second and third are still being negotiated.
Phase 1
Stage one will last 6 weeks, starting on January 19. Israeli forces will withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and Hamas-held hostages, made up of the elderly, women, children, and the injured, are to be released. This will also include American hostages and over 100 Palestinian and Hamas prisoners held by Israel. Hamas and Israel will also begin further negotiations for phase two, to finally bring an absolute and complete end to the conflict.
Phase 2
After phase one ends, all of the remaining hostages and captured Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers in Gaza will be released. Alongside this, the prisoners held by Israel will also be released. As prisoners and hostages are removed, so too will Israeli troops. Through this the ceasefire will evolve to become permanent.
Phase 3
Phase three is damage control. Deceased hostages will be returned to their families and a plan to rebuild the portions of the Gaza Strip that had been decimated by the war will be initiated.
Results of the Deal
On January 15, alone, very soon after the deal was announced, celebrations erupted in both Israel and Gaza. The end of the devastation and destruction, as is similar at the end of other conflicts, is a tremendous relief to everyone, inside and outside of the Middle East, Israel, and Gaza.
Former president Joseph Biden had said, after helping to outline the deal, that there was “…no way for this war to end without a hostage deal… [Gaza] suffered unimaginable devastation…” Sharing his view, both sides agree and are looking for an end to the conflict, a mutual agreement gaining strength and presence. The deal is by no means perfect, however.
ABC News’s Chief Foreign Correspondent, Ian Panell, had wondered, who will govern the Gaza Strip next? That seems to be the greatest opposition to complete peace surrounding the region and events. Officials believe that if the answer should be Hamas once again, that answer would be “an absolute deal breaker” for Israel.
Some even believed that Israel was giving up too much to return the “terrorists” from Hamas. In Gaza, Hamas thinks that the ceasefire would be, “‘an achievement for our people’ and ‘a turning point’” says news website Reuters.
These points of view may differ drastically, and there is no plausible way to please both sides and the vast amount of people affected. Thankfully, some are currently feeling hope regarding the deal Here in the U.S. families rejoice with the return of loved ones.
Edan Alexander: One of Seven American Hostages to Return Home
Among the hundreds of men, women, and children seized by Hamas, multiple Americans were taken as well. Edan Alexander was one of them. Alexander is from New Jersey, graduating from Tenafly High School, and being a talented swimmer on the school’s swim team. At only 19, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), in 2022. Unfortunately, he had been stationed near the border with Gaza, and went missing during the October 7 attack.
Edan will be released during phase two, and his parents are overjoyed. He had been presumed dead after his disappearance on October 7, but to his family’s shock he was found alive, but not necessarily well, in a video released from Hamas showing him as a captive. The video was a form of propaganda, with Edan, likely being forced to, saying that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, had “neglected us.” With such propaganda it seemed like Hamas also was looking for a way out of the war, saying, through Alexander, that President-elect Donald Trump should use the “full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom” and correct such “neglect” according to CBS News.
Back home in Tenafly, yellow ribbons were tied on lampposts up and down Washington Street to honor the hostages, and Edan Alexander, one of their own. The town, having one of the higher Palestinian populations in the area, rejoiced at the announcement of the deal.
There is no guarantee that the ceasefire deal will terminate the fighting in Israel, nor will it guarantee the end of fighting in Gaza, or Syria where the war had spread. There is currently conflict within the Israeli government over the deal. The world can only watch and wait to see what will happen.
