In the second stage, Israel would accept a permanent ceasefire and Hamas would then release the remaining living male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, for an exchange of Palestinian prisoners.

[25] After Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire, equating a halt in fighting to a surrender to Hamas and terrorism.

[38] In December, Egypt provided a ceasefire plan obtained by the Associated Press that would gradually release hostages and form a Palestinian government to administer Gaza and the occupied West Bank, relinquishing control from Hamas.

[41] By January, several Israeli commanders expressed beliefs that releasing hostages could only be achieved through diplomacy, according to The New York Times; general Gadi Eisenkot stated publicly that Israel should "rescue civilians, ahead of killing an enemy".

[45] Following the meeting in Paris, Hamas chief political leader Ismail Haniyeh stated the organization was considering a deal, but remained committed to a withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza, a demand rejected by Netanyahu.

[50] Leading up to Ramadan, mediators from the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar increased efforts to reach a ceasefire; Burns met with Barnea in Jordan on 8 March to discuss a hostage deal.

Burns, Sheikh Mohammed, Burnea, and Egyptian officials met in Doha to discuss a proposal that included an increased number of released Palestinian prisoners.

[75] U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken appeared in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to garner support for a ceasefire from the Gulf Cooperation Council's members.

[79] On Telegram, Hamas chief political leader Ismail Haniyeh said on 2 May the organization viewed the proposal with "positive spirit" and planned to send a delegate to Egypt.

[80] According to a text message obtained by The New York Times, former Hamas military leader Husam Badran wrote two days later the organization's representatives approached Israel's proposal with "great positivity".

[103] The following day, Hamas and Islamic Jihad replied to the resolution with amendments to the proposal, including a timeline for a permanent ceasefire and troop withdrawals,[104] and the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister stated, "The claim that Israel agreed to end the war before achieving all its goals is a total lie".

"[112] Palestinians, including Hamas, see the demand for occupying the corridor as the beginning of a lasting military occupation and a return of Israeli settlements to Gaza.

[116] Egypt sees an Israeli presence at the corridor to be a violation of the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, under which each side is allowed to have only a small number of soldiers in the border zone.

[118] In an early-September 2024 Haaretz report, an unnamed coalition partner of Netanyahu stated that the Israeli PM had decided several weeks earlier he did not want a ceasefire deal.

[135] Prior to its conclusion, Trump repeatedly warned that failure to release the hostages, including seven American citizens, before his 20 January inauguration would result in "hell to pay".

[12] The New York Times also remarked on Biden's heavy involvement in the negotiations, mentioning particularly how McGurk collaborating with Trump's future special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

[158] Twenty-three prisoners who were serving life sentences for more serious crimes, like Mohammed Abu Warda, who had helped organize the 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings that killed over 40 people, were transferred to Egypt prior to further deportation.

[161][162] On 31 January, Hamas announced that three mixed nationality civilians; French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, American-Israeli Keith Siegel and Israeli-Argentine Yarden Bibas were to be released the next day.

[175][176] The harrowing images of the hostages' dire medical condition, combined with the staged statements orchestrated by Hamas during their release, sparked outraged reactions worldwide: US President Donald Trump said that the hostages "look like they haven’t had a meal in a month,” and that they are “people that were healthy people a reasonably short number of years ago, and you look at them today, they look like they’ve aged 25 years, they literally look like the old pictures of Holocaust survivors, the same thing.

No reason for that", also he added that "They were in horrible condition, they were emaciated… and I don’t know how much longer we can take that";[177] Steffen Seibert, the German ambassador to Israel, stated: "Almost unbearable to see the emaciated hostages forced to give interviews to some Hamas ’reporter'.

However, the Gaza Government Media Office says Israel has restricted the flow of tents, trailers and other temporary shelters, as well as heavy equipment to remove the rubble – all of which were promised in the ceasefire agreement.

[207] On 25 January, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Hamas violated the hostage exchange agreement by releasing female soldiers before returning all civilian women.

[210] On 25 January, Hamas violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement by failing to publish the list detailing the status of the hostages set to be released throughout the remainder of the first phase.

[21] Following Hamas's announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed it, stating: "As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday [15 February] at 12 o'clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out".

[228] UAE's Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan supported Egyptian-Qatari mediations and hoped the proposal would result in ending both the war and the suffering of Palestinians.

[238] Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya thanked the pro-Iran militias across the Middle East that launched attacks on Israel and opened "support fronts" to back Palestinians in Gaza, including the Houthis in Yemen and Lebanon's Hezbollah, He also shows gratitude to Qatar and Egypt for helping reach the ceasefire agreement as well as Turkey, South Africa and Malaysia for showing solidarity with Palestinians as well as protesters across the world that helped "break the silence" about atrocities in Gaza.

[239] al-Hayya later claimed that Israel had "failed" to achieve their publicly stated or "secret" goals in Gaza, including returning the captives by force, eliminating Hamas or displaсing the territory's population.

[242] The secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti said that the ceasefire is a "moment of relief" but also warned the people in Gaza that they will likely face three days of intensified bombing before it goes into effect on 19 January.

[246][247][248] Marwan Bishara, the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera English, stated the proposed ceasefire contained a strategy of "ambiguity" but that, The Israeli prime minister himself says Israel won't stop the war until it destroys Hamas...

[271] Following the implementation of the ceasefire on 19 January, multiple news outlets, including Israeli media, stated that Israel had ultimately failed to destroy Hamas, which retains control over the Gaza Strip.