What We Know About the Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Agreement

The first phase, including the start of hostage releases, would last six weeks, but Israel’s government has not yet ratified the deal.

The Israeli government had been expected to vote on Thursday on a cease-fire deal with Hamas but delayed it until at least Friday, after last-minute disputes with Hamas and rifts over the agreement emerged inside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

Among the disagreements with Hamas were changes to how Israeli forces would deploy along Gaza’s border with Egypt during the truce, said Omer Dostri, Mr. Netanyahu’s spokesman. Mr. Netanyahu has argued that control of the border zone is critical to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas. The group is also demanding the release of “certain terrorists” unacceptable to Israel, Mr. Dostri added.

Hamas officials did not respond to a request for comment on the Israeli claims that the deal was being held up by the group’s demands about the Egyptian border and prisoners. Earlier on Thursday, Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the group was still committed to the agreement.

Later on Thursday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister for national security, announced that his party would resign from Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition should the cabinet approve the cease-fire deal. The move threatens to destabilize the government at a critical time but should not, in and of itself, prevent the Gaza deal from moving ahead.

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Here’s what you need to know:

• What’s in the agreement?
• Who will be freed?
• What’s the status of the deal?
• Has fighting continued?
• Why did talks move forward?

What’s in the agreement?

The cease-fire deal would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks. It would involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The New York Times.

At the beginning of the first phase, Israel would have to move its forces east, and on the seventh day, Palestinians displaced in southern Gaza could begin to return to the northern part of the territory, according to the document.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza have been living in tents, makeshift shelters, rented homes and relatives’ apartments for more than a year. Many of those planning to return to the north will most likely find that their homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed, especially residents of Jabaliya, a town in the north.

The provisional deal says a minimum of 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents would be brought into Gaza during the initial phase.

By the 16th day of the first phase, negotiations about the second phase of the deal — also lasting six weeks — would begin, especially details related to the further exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Read more on the terms here.

Who will be freed?

If it goes into effect, the cease-fire would allow for the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. About 100 hostages are thought to still be in Gaza, although the Israeli authorities believe around 35 of them are dead.

The 33 hostages to be released in the first phase include women and children, men over 50 and sick or wounded people. It is still unclear how many of the 33 are alive, but Israeli officials have estimated that most are.

The agreement requires Hamas to release three female hostages on Day 1, four more on Day 7 and 26 more over the next five weeks. In exchange, Israel must free multiple Palestinian prisoners for each hostage, including some serving life sentences in some cases.

Read more about the hostage and prisoners here.

What’s the status of the deal?

Israel’s cabinet had been expected to vote on Thursday morning on whether to formally ratify the deal.

But at midday local time, Israel had yet to convene ministers to discuss the proposal, citing last-minute disputes with Hamas. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement, without specifying which ones.

Some hard-line members of Mr. Netanyahu’s government have opposed the deal. The coalition’s two far-right parties do not command a majority in the cabinet.

Critics of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, including many of the families of hostages held in Gaza, have repeatedly accused the prime minister of sabotaging past efforts to reach a deal in order to preserve his coalition — the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history — and remain in power.

Has fighting continued?

Yes.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday morning that at least eight Israeli attacks in the territory had killed 81 people and injured nearly 200 others over the previous 24 hours. Gazan officials do not differentiate between militant and civilian deaths.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service, said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 77 people since the deal had been announced.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday that it struck 50 targets across the Gaza Strip over the last day. The targets included militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, their compounds, weapons storage and manufacturing sites and launch and observation posts. The military said that “numerous steps” were taken to prevent civilian harm before the strikes.

Why did talks move forward?

The talks have also gained momentum since Israel reached a separate cease-fire agreement with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which began firing rockets into Israel immediately after the Hamas-led attack of October 2023. Battered badly by its escalating conflict with Israel, Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire with Israel in November, a deal that helped isolate Hamas.

Some officials have suggested that the change in U.S. administrations, set to take place on Monday, Jan. 20, put pressure on Israel and Hamas to accelerate their decision-making after months of delay.

President-elect Donald J. Trump, has warned that there will be “all hell to pay” unless the hostages are freed by the time he takes office. Steve Witkoff, his pick for Middle East envoy, has also made trips to Qatar and Israel.