How the Gaza ceasefire deal came together
At the last minute, negotiators in Doha managed to seal the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that had eluded the Biden administration for more than 15 months.
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WASHINGTON — It wasn’t until hours before President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire and hostage release agreement on Wednesday afternoon that negotiators were sure they had a done deal.
After months of on-and-off negotiations, Israel and Hamas have agreed to exchange 33 hostages held in the Gaza Strip for scores of Palestinian prisoners, along with the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops and a surge of humanitarian assistance under a six-week ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday. The second and third phases of the deal would bring the release of the remaining living and deceased hostages, the complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent end to the war.
The breakthrough came in a two-story building in the Qatari capital of Doha, where Egyptian and Qatari mediators were shuttling messages with Hamas officials on one floor and Israeli officials on another.
