section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: A hostages-and-prisoners exchange and armistice between Israel and Hamas -led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip took effect from 19 January to 18 March 2025, during the Gaza war. It included eight rounds of hostages-and-prisoners exchanges between Israel and Hamas.
  
  The initial proposal was a serial initiative in three stages, beginning with a six-week ceasefire and including the release of all Israelis being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians being held by Israel, an end to the war, Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a reconstruction process that would last from three to five years. The proposal was first drafted by mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, accepted by Hamas on 5 May 2024, and presented by U.S. president Joe Biden on 31 May. On 10 June, the United Nations Security Council supported it as Resolution 2735. Later in 2024, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of hindering the proposal while some US officials accused Hamas of the same. After he was elected, United States president-elect Donald Trump joined Biden in pressuring the Israeli side to accept a similar proposal. A variation of the proposal was agreed to by Israel and Hamas on 15 January 2025. On 17 January, the deal was signed by its negotiators, and it was approved by the Israeli security cabinet and later the full Israeli cabinet.
  
  During the first stage, Hamas released 33 hostages (mostly men 50 or over and women), in exchange for Israel releasing 30–50 Palestinians (starting with children and women) for every Israeli released. During the first stage, Israel allowed "sufficient" quantities of humanitarian aid, allowed displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and started to make a phased withdrawal from Gaza. During the first stage of the ceasefire, talks were supposed to begin between both parties for a more permanent cessation of hostilities. 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. In the third stage, the remains of deceased Israeli hostages would be released. Under the 5 May proposal, Israel would commit to lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip, but this commitment was not present in the 31 May proposal.
  
  From the beginning of the implementation of the deal, Israel was consistently accused of violating it by killing Palestinians on a near-daily basis and hindering aid since the ceasefire came into effect. Israel accused Hamas of violating the deal with delays in providing the names of hostages. Hamas on 10 February announced that it would suspend the release of the Israeli hostages, citing violations by Israel; this led to threats from Trump and Netanyahu in response. Hamas revoked the suspension on 13 February, saying that Egyptian and Qatari mediators would oversee humanitarian provisions of the truce agreement, and on 15 February Hamas released Israeli hostages as agreed upon. On 21 February, Hamas returned to Israel the dead body of Shiri Bibas, after delivering the wrong body to Israel the day before. On 22 February 2025, Hamas released six living hostages as stipulated, but Israel refused to release 620 Palestinian prisoners as stipulated, instead instituting an indefinite delay of the release while accusing Hamas of repeatedly violating the deal. On 25 February, Israel and Hamas reached a deal to exchange the bodies of Israeli hostages who were agreed to be handed over during the first phase for releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners without public ceremony.
  
  On 1 March, the day the first phase of the ceasefire was scheduled to end, Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend it to release more hostages. Hamas said the second phase should proceed as originally planned. Netanyahu's office said that Israel endorsed a US plan to extend the Gaza truce for the Ramadan and Passover periods. Under this plan, half of the living and dead hostages would be released on the first day of the extended truce and the remaining hostages would be released at the end of the period if a permanent truce was reached. His office said that the initial deal allowed Israel to resume war at any moment after 1 March if negotiations were deemed ineffective. Following Hamas's refusal to accept the US ceasefire extension proposal, Israel ceased the entry of aid to Gaza the next day, 2 March. The humanitarian aid blockade was condemned by mediators Egypt and Qatar, as well as the United Nations, as a violation of the ceasefire, which stipulated that phase one would automatically be extended as long as phase two negotiations were in progress. On 9 March, Israeli energy minister Eli Cohen ordered to halt supply of Israeli electricity to Gaza. On 14 March, Hamas said that it agreed to a proposal from mediators to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual national hostages. Israel and the United States rejected the offer.
  
  On 18 March 2025, Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Gaza, breaking the ceasefire with Hamas. Hours later, Netanyahu declared that Israel has "resumed combat in full force" against Hamas in Gaza, with the wave of airstrikes being "just the beginning".