Gaza ceasefire deal reached between Hamas, Israel

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Negotiators reached a phased deal on Wednesday (Jan 15) to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the U.S. and Qatar said, after 15 months of fighting that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/38fyr7j2  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas.

00:07U.S. President Joe Biden, in the final days of his presidency, confirmed the successful

00:12negotiation of a ceasefire in Gaza, after more than 15 months of bloodshed.

00:18The deal is structured in three phases.

00:22Phase one will last six weeks.

00:25It includes a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the

00:30populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including

00:37women and elderly and the wounded.

00:40In exchange, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

00:44The U.S. and fellow mediator Qatar said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday.

00:49It comes after months of on-and-off negotiations by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the

00:54backing of the United States.

00:58At a news conference in Doha, Qatar's prime minister said the deal includes the release

01:03of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50 years old.

01:10Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's

01:14security cabinet and government.

01:16And Israeli officials said votes were slated for Thursday.

01:20On the streets of Tel Aviv and in Khan Younis, Israelis and Palestinians both celebrated

01:26the news.

01:27We are happy with this victory because the Palestinian people simply want their freedom.

01:35Freedom for the Palestinian people.

01:37We don't want anything but freedom and to live with dignity without occupation.

01:42United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the priority now must be on getting humanitarian

01:48aid into Gaza.

01:50The humanitarian situation is at catastrophic levels.

01:54And I call on all parties to facilitate the rapid and endured and safe humanitarian relief

02:01for all civilians in need.

02:03On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli

02:10border area communities, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 foreign

02:16and Israeli hostages.

02:18In response, Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since killed over 46,000 people,

02:25according to Gaza Health Ministry figures.

02:29Despite Wednesday's breakthrough, residents and medics at Israeli airstrikes killed several

02:33people Wednesday evening in Gaza, just hours after the ceasefire deal was reached.

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