Mediator Qatar said Hamas and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire that would halt the war in Gaza and aim to end the brutal 15-month conflict. Israel will formally accept the deal after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani made the announcement on Wednesday evening after weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha. Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged at a media conference that Israel has increased pressure to reach a deal with US President-elect Donald Trump, with all parties stepping up efforts to hammer out final details in recent days.

"The two warring parties in the Gaza Strip have reached an agreement on the exchange of prisoners and hostages and (the mediator) announced a ceasefire in the hope that both sides will reach a permanent ceasefire," he said.

"Both sides should fully comply with all three phrases (of the agreement) to avoid further bloodshed and avoid escalation in the region." Sheikh Mohammed added: "We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter in the war."

Immediately afterwards, US President Joe Biden said that his administration had negotiated the agreement, but Trump's team would soon be responsible for ensuring that the agreement is implemented. Biden said incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkopf was joined by White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk as the Doha talks came to fruition.

"We've been speaking as a team over the past few days," Biden said.

Hamas announced hours ago that it had formally accepted the terms of the agreement.

In a statement late Wednesday, Khalil Haya, the group's acting head, said "Israel has failed to achieve its goals in Gaza."

In Deir al-Balah, in the heart of the Gaza Strip, people gathered in dark streets without electricity to celebrate, cheer and dance even as Israeli air strikes on Gaza continued. "Praise God, we will soon be able to live freely as humans again," said Mohammed Azaiza, a displaced father of four.

The mood was more somber in Tel Aviv, where pro-deal protesters gathered for a demonstration ahead of the cabinet vote to remind Israel's leaders of their stance.

Israeli peace activist Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed in the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the October 7 war, told Al Jazeera: “For my parents, It's too late for the thousands of people in Gaza, and for the hundreds of thousands of Israelis, but that's what I've been calling for... to reach an agreement and start the peace process. People who come to their families are happy.”

The first batch of 33 hostages are expected to be released on Sunday in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and injured people in Gaza will be allowed to leave for medical treatment.

Sheikh Mohammed said children, women (including female soldiers) and people over 50 years old would be released first. In exchange, Israel would free "some Palestinians." The Associated Press reported that Hamas would release 50 Palestinians for every female Israeli soldier it released, and 30 Palestinians for every hostage it released.

"We have a deal on the hostages in the Middle East... and they will be released soon," Trump said in a social media post.

He claimed that this agreement "can only be achieved if we achieve a historic victory in November, because it signals to the world that my administration will seek peace and negotiate agreements to ensure the safety and security of all Americans and our allies." Safety".

As expectations for a ceasefire grew earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz met with Finance Minister Bezaleh Smotrich, one of the far-right leaders in the coalition. Smotrich was highly critical of the earlier deal with Hamas. His fellow hardline minister Itamar Ben Gvir has asked him to join forces and pull the parties out of the coalition, which could lead to the collapse of the government if a deal is reached.

However, unlike Ben Gwire, polls suggest Smotrich could face political oblivion if a new election is held. Political analysts say he is more motivated to keep the current Netanyahu coalition afloat.

According to Israeli television, Smotrich offered Netanyahu a series of conditions for his support, including a promise to return to the war and impose strict sanctions if Hamas emerged from the ashes of the Gaza Strip that still controls it. Limit the amount of humanitarian aid. Israeli media reported widely on Wednesday that the country's policymakers were preparing to resume hostilities at the end of the first six-week phase.

The deal hammered out in Doha largely follows the contours of the truce first drawn up last May.

All fighting will be suspended in the first phase, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza City to a buffer zone on the edge of the Gaza Strip, the details of which will be set out in a map now signed by both sides.

Some 90 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and should be allowed to move freely between the south and north of the territory. Israel has reduced Gaza's territory by half by building military corridors. More aid should be allowed to flow into Gaza, but the exact amount is unclear.

The second phase, designed to be more comprehensive, would see the repatriation of the remaining living hostages and the release of a proportionate share of Palestinian prisoners, along with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. This is a step that Netanyahu has been very reluctant to take so far, and the specifics of the second phase are subject to further negotiations, which will begin 16 days after the first phase.

The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members and will launch a Gaza reconstruction plan. Future governance arrangements for the zone remain unclear.

A group representing some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas during the war welcomed the agreement but called for "a framework to ensure the return of everyone captured".

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: "This agreement marks a crucial step but must be followed through at all stages. We will not rest until we see the last hostage return home."

More than 15 months of war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, caused a humanitarian disaster and destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure. The International Court of Justice is examining allegations that Israel committed genocide.

On October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 250 were taken hostage. A November 2023 ceasefire broke down a week later, with 100 people released in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli prisons.