Finally, the people of the Gaza Strip have achieved what they have been hoping for over the last 50 days of suffering, killing and displacement. On the evening of Aug. 26, at a news conference in Gaza City, attended by Al-Monitor, Hamas announced that they had reached a cease-fire agreement with Israel. The movement considered it a victory for the Palestinian people and the resistance, stressing that the truce agreement ensures the majority of the current Palestinian demands.

The announcement of the cease-fire came as the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the total number of victims of the latest Israeli aggression in Gaza had reached 2,142 dead, including 577 children and 102 senior citizens, in addition to more than 11,066 wounded. 

In a televised address on the evening of Aug. 26, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the cease-fire beginning in Gaza at 7 p.m. He directed thanks at Egypt, which sponsored indirect negotiations, and then called for “working to meet the requirements and needs of our people in Gaza, and providing all the medical supplies and services they need." Abbas then called on the international community and the UN to send supplies as soon as possible.

But what happened in those last hours to make the truce agreement a reality on the ground?