How did we reach a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza?

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, the US and mediator Qatar said.

If the Israeli cabinet and government formally approve the agreement, which has not yet happened, the first six-week phase will take effect on January 19.

The agreement followed a 15-month standoff between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian armed group and political movement.

The current conflict began when hundreds of Hamas fighters stormed across Israel’s southern border on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back into Gaza.

Israel responded with a military campaign that began with an immediate aerial bombardment, followed by a full-scale ground invasion that began on October 27. Since then, Israel has attacked targets in Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.

More than 46,700 people – most of them civilians – have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Here’s a reminder of the key developments in the talks.

2023 year

October 7: Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen are launching an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, breaking through the border fence and targeting nearby settlements, police stations and military bases. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets at Israel. The Israeli military immediately retaliated with air and artillery strikes on Gaza.

October 27: Israel begins ground invasion of Gaza. Israel’s massive military campaign will continue to devastate Gaza, displacing most of its 2.3 million population and killing more than 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

November 21: The deal, brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt, calls for Hamas to release 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons during a week-long ceasefire. Israel and Hamas blame each other for disrupting the truce.

December 28: Shuttle diplomacy begins for a new ceasefire and hostage release.

2024 year

May 31: US President Joe Biden defines an Israeli proposal for a three-phase ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. It is at the heart of a deal agreed eight months later.

June 10: UN Security Council makes a decision supports the ceasefire plan.

July 31: Negotiations are suspended after killing Israel the political leader of Hamas and chief negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in the capital of Iran, Tehran. Discussions resume two weeks later, initially in the absence of Hamas.

October 17: Israeli forces kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. Netanyahu calls it the “beginning of the end” of the war.

November 9: After months without a breakthrough, Qatar suspends its efforts as a mediator in the negotiations. It says that Israel and Hamas must change their positions. Both sides blame each other for the impasse.

November 20: USA vetoes the project The UN Security Council resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying it “rejects” the need for a “link between the ceasefire and the release of the hostages”.

November 27: Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Lebanon to end a 13-month conflict with the armed group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, which was sparked by the war in Gaza. It has renewed hope for a deal in Gaza, and Biden has said he will make another push with regional powers.

December 2: President-elect Donald Trump says there will be “all hell to pay” unless the hostages still in Gaza are released by the time he returns to the White House on January 20, 2025.

December 17: A senior Palestinian official – it is said in indirect negotiations are in a “decisive and final phase,” while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says an agreement is closer than ever.

2025 year

January 13: Biden and Netanyahu speak by phone about the talks during Biden’s final week in office after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was an agreement “very close” and that he hoped to “go beyond” before Trump takes office.

January 15: Qatar’s prime minister said Israel and Hamas had agreed on a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages, and that it would take effect on January 19. Biden says it will “stop the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and reunite hostages with their families.”