After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, mediators Qatar and the United States say.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday as long as it is approved by the Israeli cabinet.

US President Joe Biden said it would “stop the fighting in Gaza, provide vital humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and reunite hostages with their families”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the final details of the deal were still being worked out but thanked Biden for “promoting” it. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said it was the result of Palestinian “resistance”.

Many Palestinians and families of Israeli hostages celebrated the news, but the war on the ground in Gaza did not stop.

More than 20 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes after Qatar’s announcement, the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency reported. It said it included 12 people who lived in a residential building in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

On October 7, 2023, Israel launched an operation to destroy Hamas, which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and other countries, in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Since then, more than 46,700 people have died in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry, which controls the territory’s Hamas. Most of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced, widespread destruction is taking place and food, fuel, medicine and shelter are in short supply due to the struggle to get aid to those in need.

Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. In addition, there are four Israelis abducted before the war, two of whom have died.

Qatar’s prime minister called on both sides to “calm down” before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, which he said would see 33 hostages, including women, children and the elderly, exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces will also withdraw east of populated areas of the Gaza Strip, allowing displaced Palestinians to begin returning to their homes and allowing hundreds of aid trucks to enter the territory each day.

Negotiations for the second phase – the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to “sustainable calm” – will begin on the 16th.

The third and final phase involves rebuilding the Gaza Strip – something that could take years – and returning the bodies of the remaining hostages.

Sheikh Mohammed said there was a “clear mechanism for negotiating the second and third phases” and that the agreements would be announced “in the next few days once the details are finalised”.

Qatar, the United States and Egypt, which helped broker the deal, are working together to ensure Israel and Hamas fulfill their obligations, he said.

“We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement,” he added.

President Biden said the plan, which he first outlined eight months ago, was “not only the result of intense pressure under Hamas and the changed regional equation after a cease-fire in Lebanon and the weakness of Iran – but also the result of tough and painstaking American diplomacy.”

“While we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones died in the October 7 attack by Hamas and the many innocent people who died in the war that followed,” the statement added. “It is past time for the fighting to end and for peace and security to begin.”

At a later news conference, Biden also acknowledged the support of President-elect Donald Trump, who has pressed both parties to demand the release of the hostages ahead of his inauguration on Monday.

“Over the last few days, we’ve been talking as a team,” he said, noting that much of the implementation of the agreement will happen after he leaves office.

Trump was the first to confirm reports that the deal had been reached, overriding the White House and Qatar to a formal announcement.

In a later post on social media, he sought to take credit for the “epic” deal, saying it was “only possible as a result of our historic win in November.”