Global News Podcast - Gaza special: ceasefire and hostage deal agreed

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

A Gaza ceasefire, which involves a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of all the hostages, has been agreed by Israel and Hamas. The announcement was made by the PM of Qatar, which helped broker the deal.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I'm Jonny Diamond from the Global Story podcast. After 15 months of war, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and left two million people displaced from their homes. What does the ceasefire deal say and crucially can it hold? That's on the Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss and in this special edition recorded on Wednesday 15th January, a ceasefire deal in Gaza is announced, an agreement to end 15 months of war. It's due to start on Sunday. US President Joe Biden confirmed the deal, which involves a full and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. We'll have the latest from our correspondents in Jerusalem and Washington. It was the Prime Minister of Qatar who announced details of the deal. Qatar has been hosting and mediating talks between the two sides. This is what Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Yassim

Al-Farney had to say at a news conference in Doha. We've been raising the question of the right moment for the entire period since the collapse of the first phase. But we have seen a momentum that started to build in the last month and we kept pushing for that, working together very closely with our partners. And I can say that what we have seen from the U.S. in the past few days, seeing a collaboration transcending both administration was a clear demonstration for the commitment of the U.S. to reach to that deal. And I really would like to thank both the envoys who are here with us in the last couple of days and they played a vital role in reaching to this moment. And of course, for us and Egypt, this is something that we are a stakeholder in that conflict that we have to do it and we have

to help and support. But we have seen the steps that's been taken recently from the US has yielded to this moment. Qatar's Prime Minister. What's striking about the ceasefire deal is that it's really just a more detailed version of the outline agreement drawn up in the middle of last year. As our Jerusalem correspondent Jonah Fisher explained to me. This is a deal that in effect has been around for seven or eight months. It was first put forward by the Biden administration in May of last year. It's taken that long for it to gain enough momentum, for enough pressure to be put on, on all sides for it to culminate in what we've seen in the last hour or so, confirmation that a deal had been reached. It's a 42-day ceasefire that will see a phased release of 33 hostages

that Hamas took during the October 7, 2023 attack. That's hostages who are basically women, children, elderly, sick and injured. And it's not entirely clear at this point that all 33 of them are still alive. Every time that Hamas releases a live hostage or a body, Israel will in return release dozens of Palestinian prisoners from its jails here in Israel. So it's a phased release of those hostages and at the same time Israel will be pulling back its forces from the more densely populated parts of the Gaza Strip to a buffer zone effectively on the eastern edge of the Gaza Strip where it borders Israel

and at the same time the displaced people of Gaza, nearly two million of them, will be allowed to return to, well, we could term their homes. Obviously, many of them are going to discover when they do go back to where they lived before that what they called their home has been reduced to rubble by the Israeli attacks and the violence. And we're hearing that the Israeli security cabinet is going to vote on this deal tomorrow. It's presumably still an open question,

isn't it, whether the deal will pass. Many people in it were virantly opposed to any deal like this, and you know, I'm thinking of people like the finance minister, Mr Smotrych, who said instead of a deal like this, it would be better to unleash the gates of hell on Gaza. Is it going to get through? I think it will get through. There are certainly very strongly voiced objections that have been raised over the last few days by some far-right, ultra-nationalist members of Mr Netanyahu's government. He only needs a majority to get it through his government. And I think the considered opinion may be that those members like, as you mentioned there, Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Ghivir, another of the far-right members of cabinet,

they may have felt that they have articulated their objection to it, and they don't want to take the further step of resigning from the government and attempting to take the government down, and the political chaos that that would release. So I don't think there's a serious question here in Israel as to whether the deal will get through tomorrow. There will certainly be objections raised. So that part of the process does appear that it will follow despite protests from some. Jonah Fisher, even before any formal announcement was made,

thousands of Palestinians celebrated the ceasefire agreement. This was the sound on the streets of Khan Yunis. Abu Sufyan was one of those celebrating. Crowds gathered around television screens tuned into the news. crowds gathered around television screens tuned into the news. We are here happy with this victory because the Palestinian people simply want their freedom, freedom for the Palestinian people. We don't want anything but freedom and to live with dignity without occupation. According to the United Nations, 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced because of Israeli

bombardment. Among those who managed to escape was the BBC's Gaza correspondent Rushdie Abu Alouf, who's in Istanbul. He shared his thoughts on what the deal means. It's significant for the people of Gaza. It's a night of celebration in Gaza, but also a sign of worrying because, you know, the ceasefire will go into effect from Sunday, which is still three days of this war. Already, today and yesterday, there was real intensify of Israeli airstrikes. More than 60 people were killed for the last 48 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. hours according to the Hamas run health ministry but in general people were expressing their

mixed feeling, joy for the ceasefire announcement today but fear for the future because you know the scale of destruction in Gaza city and in northern Gaza especially which was under really Israeli heavy Israeli operation for the last year. Most of the homes, schools, universities were destroyed and people will go back to the north after seven days, but for nothing. They won't find their homes exist anymore. And I think the people will be shocked when they see the scale of destruction, the satellite footage that we have been receiving showing the widespread destruction, hundreds of thousands of housing units were destroyed, most of the hospitals, most of the schools

and universities. So it's very mixed feeling in Gaza today, happy for the ceasefire and sad for the future. And very briefly, it's still not clear, of course, who is going to be in charge in Gaza once the Israeli leaves. Yeah that's the big question. People have been waiting for this war to end but also they don't know exactly who's going to be in charge. Well in theory there is no authority rather than Hamas to be in charge of Gaza now and we understand that part of the deal Egypt and Qatar will have to work with other Palestinian elements, maybe the Palestinian Authority which is run by

the Palestinians in Ramallah, maybe with former Palestinian Authority officers like we understand that Egypt is being in contact with some of the Palestinian experts and they call them technocrat, people to run the authority in Gaza. It's still not clear, and the future seems very grim for the people of Gaza. They don't know exactly who's going to be in charge and who's going to be taking the job of rebuilding Gaza, because as I said, Gaza is devastated everywhere. It's been destroyed. Every element is destroyed. Most of the house, the schools, the universities. So the future seems grim for the people of Gaza. So that's why they are in a very mixed feeling, happy for the end of the war, but

sad for the future. The BBC's Gaza correspondent Rushdie Abu al-Luf and Hamas have released a statement about the deal. A Hamas official described the ceasefire as a great gain that reflects the legend that had been achieved through the steadfastness of Gaza, its people and the bravery of its resistance. Well, according to BBC Verified, 94 of the 251 hostages taken on October 7th are still in Gaza. 60 of them are assumed to be alive still the families of those taken have gathered once again in a part of Tel Aviv known as

Hostage Square they've been holding up placards with pictures of friends and relatives and chanting Udi Guren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi was killed on October 7th, has been campaigning for the hostages' release for the last 15 months. He told the BBC that the families are anxiously waiting to see their relatives again. Everybody is incredibly anxious and a lot can still go wrong. At the end of the day we're ending a very long war. I hope, I truly hope that some of the people that have become my extended family might actually see their child. There's no words to describe what does a parent feel when their child is taken away and there's nothing they can do about it and there's a possibility they can see them back.

It may have been Qatar which hosted the peace talks but of course the US was very much in the room sometimes literally but always a presence in trying to nudge the two sides together. That said the US never made any bones about being Israel's ally in this conflict supplying it with both weapons and diplomatic support. Nonetheless, when welcoming the deal, Joe Biden expressed hope it would bring relief to both sides. Long last I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. For more than 15 months of conflict, it began with Hezbollah's brutal massacre on October 7, more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, the Israeli people, more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people of Gaza, fighting in Gaza will stop and soon the hostages will return home to their families. The elements of this deal are what I laid out in detail this past May,

which was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the UN Security Council. Joe Biden may still be president, but before he spoke about the ceasefire agreement, Donald Trump was taking credit for the influence played by him and his team. And they did actually play an important role, as our State Department correspondent Tom Bateman explained to me. Well, they were closely involved because Steve Witkoff, the man that he's appointed to be his envoy to the region, was in Qatar. He had spent the weekend in Israel. He'd spoken

to Prime Minister Netanyahu. He was in the room just now as the Prime Minister held a news conference where they announced the signing of the deal. The Trump transition team has been closely involved over the recent weeks. I think that what the Biden administration is saying about all this is that it is because they coordinated closely and wanted to hand over the agreement in the best possible shape, I mean it is in the best possible shape now because it has been signed, but remember the negotiations do not end here, they

pick up because there are three phases to this. I think what the Biden administration will be saying is that it was all to do with the way that the President Biden had set out this framework back in May, changing conditions in the region because of what was happening militarily, and you know sort of a dogged US approach as President Biden puts it that got this thing over the line. President Trump though is taking credit and saying it is only because of his election in November that the deal has been signed. Tom Bateman in Washington, you've been listening to a special edition of the Global News podcast.

A ceasefire deal in Gaza has been announced with an end to Israeli attacks on Palestinians and Israeli hostages released. It's due to start on January the 19th. With his thoughts on the wider implications of the deal, here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen. The ceasefire is a considerable achievement. It is long overdue. Versions of the deal have been on the table since May last year. Hamas and Israel have blamed each other for the delays. Israel's response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 that killed around 1200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, has left Gaza in ruins. Most of Gaza's population of well over

2 million has been displaced. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed almost 50,000 people, both combatants and civilians. A recent study in the Lancet Medical Journal says that might be a major underestimate. The first big challenge is making sure that the ceasefire holds. Senior Western diplomats fear that after the first phase of 42 days, the war could resume. The Gaza war has had immense consequences across the Middle East. It did not, as many feared, lead to a general war in the region. The Biden administration has claimed credit

for that. But it has led to geostrategic upheaval. Hamas is still able to fight, but it's a shadow of what it was. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister have been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The International Court of Justice is investigating a case brought by South Africa, accusing Israel of genocide. After Hezbollah in Lebanon intervened in the war, it was eventually crushed by an Israeli offensive.

That was a factor that led to the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. Iran and Israel exchanged direct attacks, weakening the Iranians. Their network of allies and proxies, that they called the Axis of Resistance, has been crippled. The Houthis in Yemen have halted much of the shipping between Europe and Asia that passes the Red Sea. It remains to be seen whether they will keep their pledge to stop attacks now there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

As for the long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, it is as bitter as it has ever been. The ceasefire might, with luck, stop the killing and get Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and prisoners back to their families. It does not end a conflict that is more than a century old. Jeremy Bowen. And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast very soon.

If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Jack Wilfan and the producer was Alison Davis. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Paul Moss. Until next time, goodbye. I'm Jonny Diamond from the Global Story Podcast. After 15 months of war, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and left 2 million people displaced from their homes. What does the ceasefire deal say and crucially, can it hold?

That's on the Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.