To better understand what the cease-fire will mean for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Middle East, Foreign Affairs turned to Marc Lynch, a professor of political science at George Washington University and the director of its Middle East Studies program.

Hezbollah has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a victory for the Palestinian people, saying Israel did not achieve any of its objectives.Hezbollah blasted the United States, saying that through its support to Israel,

Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Gaza as guns fell silent. Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to watch news of the returnees.

As the cease-fire deal is underway between Israel and Hamas terrorists, some military and political commentators in Israel are worried that the deal will enable the Iran-backed terror group to rearm.

Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and free more than a third of the Israeli hostages, who have had to endure more than 15 months of captivity, officials

Hamas is a Palestinian armed group and political movement in the Gaza Strip. On 7 October 2023 it attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. This triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday.

The U.S.-proposed Gaza ceasefire deal, as presented, would result in a six-week ceasefire along, a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory in the first phase.

The Palestinian government is prepared to manage Gaza and the West Bank, seeking EU and Egypt's collaboration for humanitarian aid and security.

Three officials from the U.S. and one from Hamas confirmed that a deal had been reached, while the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said final details were still being ironed out.

A year after Israel vowed to wipe Hamas ‘off the face of the earth’ following the 7 October attack into Israel the conflict has spread across the Middle East