The ceasefire deal will be implemented in three phases over several weeks.
Biden, who described the talks as “one of the toughest negotiations” he’s ever experienced, said the agreement’s first phase will take more than six weeks as Hamas releases hostages, including women, elderly and the wounded.
That first phase would also see the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody and the repopulation of certain areas of Gaza. Hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid would also be sent into Gaza daily during this time.
“During the next six weeks, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two, which is a permanent end of the war,” Biden said.
Biden vowed that even if the negotiations for a permanent end take longer than a month-and-a-half, both parties would hold to a ceasefire with leaders in the Middle East committed to keep those negotiations moving forward.
Phase two would include an exchange of remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. Remaining Israeli forces would be withdrawn from Gaza, Biden said. Earlier, documents released by a senior Hamas officials said that Israeli troops would withdraw to Gaza’s “perimeter.”
During phase three, the remains of deceased hostages would be returned home and reconstruction plans for Gaza would begin.
Just before Biden left the room of reporters, he was asked whether he or Trump should get credit for the deal.
“Is that a joke?” Biden asked, turning to leave.
Biden was also asked how much credit Trump’s incoming administration should be given for securing the deal. He noted that the current agreement’s framework is from his proposal months ago and that it was his administration’s support for Israel that helped “badly weaken Hamas.”
“I knew this deal would have to be implemented by the next team, so I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice,” Biden said. “Because that’s what American presidents do.”
Former chief of staff at the CIA and Pentagon Jeremy Bash explains why separating hostages and releasing them at two different times as outlined in the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel is not an ideal agreement.
Though Netanyahu’s office has warned that the deal has yet to be finalized by Israel’s government, the military has gone ahead with a public name for the return of hostages.
“Wings of Freedom is the name given to the IDF’s preparations for the return of the hostages,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X.
News of a deal to end the war in Gaza is long overdue to the Israeli and Palestinian civilians who “have borne the brunt” of the violence, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement today.
Starmer urged citizens to pay tribute to those who were killed and captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, as well as the innocent Palestinians “whose homes turned into a war zone overnight.”
“And then our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people — grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state,” Starmer said.
Adi Alexander, the father of Edan Alexander, one of the hostages held by Hamas, tells NBC News’ Lester Holt that news of the deal is “unbelievable” and “a long time coming.”
In southern Gaza “everyone is in total hysteria,” Abdallah Abujaser, 22, told NBC News after the deal was announced.
He added that he hoped to return to northern Gaza with his mother and three sisters and reunite with the rest of his family.
“I’m looking forward to returning to Gaza City and Jabalia camp,” said Abujaser, who was displaced from his home due to the fighting.
But after 15 months of grueling war, he added, “Due to the many conflicting feelings I do not know what my feelings are.”
The deal will take effect on Sunday, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a news conference in his country’s capital, Doha.
“Phase one of the agreement will go on for 42 days and it will include a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the east away from populated areas,” he said. “Israeli forces will then be positioned along the Gaza border, which will allow for the swap or prisoners, as well as the return of the remains and the return of the displaced people to their residences.”
“Hamas will be releasing 33 hostages including women and female recruits, as well children, elderly people and ill people and wounded in return for a number of prisoners who are being held in Israeli prisons,” he added.
Humanitarian aid will also return “to all parts of the Gaza Strip as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers and allowing the entry of fuel and civil defense equipment, as well as basic necessities for people who lost their houses as a result of the war,” he said.
The families of the seven Americans who remain in Gaza are “deeply grateful” at news of that their loved ones may be released and returned home soon.
In a statement, the families warned that the coming days may be just as painful as the last year as they learn the full extent of what occured during their family member’s captivity.
“We have been waiting for 467 days while our family members suffer from life-threatening injuries, abuse, torture, and sexual violence,” the statement said. “We thank President Biden, President-elect Trump, and their teams for their constructive efforts to make this possible.”
President Joe Biden confirmed the Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal, hailing “many months of intensive diplomacy” by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.
“My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” the outgoing president said in a statement.
In subsequent on-camera remarks, Biden said he was “deeply satisfied this day has finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza, who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.”
Two senior administration officials say the hostage deal and cease fire agreement has been reached.
President Joe Biden is expected to speak publicly on the deal, the source said.
NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell reports on White House involvement in the many months of negotiation leading up to the ceasefire deal and how both the Biden and Trump administrations wanted to see a resolution as soon as possible.
President Joe Biden confirmed the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, saying it is based on the May 2024 outline that was “unanimously” endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.
“It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin,” Biden said in a statement today. “I am also thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable.”
The president credited the work of numerous negotiators, including Egypt and Qatar, and “extreme pressure” on Hamas, particularly after a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” Biden said.
Families of hostages in Gaza are asking for “space” regarding news of the ceasefire deal and providing updates through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization said.
“The hours ahead will be filled with profound anxiety and emotion for all involved,” the forum said in a statement.
Though news broke that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal, Israel’s Cabinet must approve the deal before it can go into effect. The country’s Supreme Court has to then allow 24 hours to permit an appeal, meaning the earliest a ceasefire could go into effect would be Friday.
A senior Hamas official said the militant group was “very happy” to secure the deal but suggested it was very similar to one discussed back in May.
Basem Naim confirmed to NBC News in a statement that Hamas had agreed to the current deal.
But he said that “both parties have lost thousands of innocent civilians,” because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and his government political games.”
Reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
The agreement between Hamas and Israel still has some issues to be ironed out, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“There are still several unresolved clauses in the outline, and we hope that the details will be finalized tonight,” his office said in a statement.
The statement also touted what it characterized as a compromise on Hamas’ part.
“Hamas has backed down on its demand at the last minute to change the deployment of forces on” the Philadelphi Corridor, a the narrow strip of land between Gaza and Egypt, according to the statement.
President-elect Donald Trump suggested today that the deal was reached because his election win “signaled to the world” that he would seek peace.
“I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He said that his team had “achieved so much without even being in the White House.”
He added that his national security team and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East, would “continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”
His cousin Carmel Gat will not be one of the hostages to be freed, but Gil Dickmann told NBC News today that it was “very exciting to see that finally hostages are gonna come home.” Still, the news was bittersweet.
Gat, 40, was kidnapped from her parents’ home in kibbutz Be’eri. An occupational therapist from Tel Aviv, she was called a “guardian angel” by some of the hostages who were freed, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group for those held captive.
Her body was recovered in Gaza by the Israeli military in August.
SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images file
Dickmann said it was “really sad to know that Carmel could have and should have been among them but a deal didn’t come in time and she was murdered in captivity.”
He also thanked President-elect Donald Trump for using his influence to secure the deal. “But this is only the beginning,” Dickmann added. “We urge him and call him to make sure that the Trump Deal doesn’t stop, and right after stage one we’ll have stage two releasing all the hostages. Leave no one behind.”
Amir Levy / Getty Images
People in Tel Aviv react to the reports of a possible hostage release deal.
Bashar Taleb / AFP – Getty Images
People celebrate in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
A ceasefire deal has been reached to end 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israeli officials and a source briefed on the negotiations told NBC News on Wednesday.
The hard-won agreement will also free dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, bringing the first real break in violence since a weeklong truce expired Dec. 1, 2023.
The new follows weeks of talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, amid a brutal winter for civilians in Gaza, as well as dramatic developments across the Middle East that have dealt setbacks to Iran, an Israeli foe.
Israel and Hamas have not officially announced a deal, although senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirmed to NBC News the militant group had agreed to it. Another source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Israeli official briefed on the deal also confirmed the news.
