After nearly 500 days of brutal war, a ceasefire in Gaza has been signed. Seemingly endless negotiations between Israel and Hamas – brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt – ended in a deal on 15 January, with a multi-phase plan due to begin on 19 January. Though the deal is still subject to agreement by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, who will vote on it today (17 January), once enacted the first 42-day phase would see Israel halt fighting in the Strip, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to what is left of their homes and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Hamas will also free 33 of the 98 remaining hostages captured during its 7 October attack; in exchange, Israel will release dozens of Palestinian prisoners it holds.
Understandably, news of the ceasefire was met with celebrations on the streets of Gaza. Less coherently, it also prompted a triumphant press conference from Joe Biden, who touted the deal as a final foreign policy victory for his administration. For 15 months now, critics have branded Biden “Genocide Joe” for what they say has been either a refusal or failure to rein in Israel’s war in Gaza; the US has vetoed UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions five times since the war began and Netanyahu repeatedly crossed each of Biden’s supposed red lines. The outgoing president is now clearly intent on cementing a positive legacy. Noting that the current ceasefire deal has the “precise contours” of the plan he had put forward in May 2024, Biden declared in his press conference: “My diplomacy never ceased in [its] efforts to get this done.”
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