European leaders welcomed reports of a long-awaited cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas and expressed cautious optimism it could lay the groundwork for a lasting peace — provided all parties honor its terms.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quick to “warmly welcome” the deal on Wednesday. “Hostages will be reunited with their loved ones and humanitarian aid can reach civilians in Gaza,” her statement said.
But the Commission head also noted that “both parties must fully implement this agreement, as a stepping stone toward lasting stability in the region and a diplomatic resolution of the conflict.”
According to the Associated Press, the deal will free, in phases, dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and will pause fighting in the 15-month war.
The conflict flared with a Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people. Israel has since destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The Israeli onslaught in Gaza sparked impassioned global calls for a cease-fire and drove diplomatic conflict across the EU and beyond. Several European countries, including Ireland, Spain and Norway, recognized Palestinian statehood, angering Israel and prompting it to recall its ambassadors from Ireland and Norway. (Tel Aviv had already recalled its ambassador to Spain.)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz celebrated the “good news,” saying: “This agreement must now be implemented to the letter. All of the hostages must be released.”
“The mortal remains of the deceased must also be handed over to the families for a dignified burial,” he added. “This ceasefire opens the door to a permanent end to the war and to the improvement of the poor humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a similar statement praising the release of the hostages and paying homage to the memory of “those who didn’t make it home and including the British people who were murdered by Hamas.”
The statement added: “For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid.” It also reiterated support for a two-state solution.
The war has also been especially deadly for journalists, at least 165 of whom were killed covering the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Deputy editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation Barry Malone paid tribute to the slain journalists after the cease-fire announcement, writing: “I’ll never forget the relentless bravery of Palestinian journalists — about 200 of them paid the ultimate price, killed in Israeli attacks. But we should also never forget the many Western journalists who didn’t utter a single word of solidarity. We saw you.”
Will there be lasting peace?
While the truce agreement marks a first step toward the end of the conflict, the deal by no means guarantees peace. Just last month, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “return to fighting” even after a cease-fire deal was reached, adding: “There is no point in pretending otherwise because returning to fighting is needed in order to complete the goals of the war.”
Netanyahu has spoken often of the need for “total victory” over Hamas. While the Israeli military has succeeded in killing many members of the group, including its leader Yahya Sinwar, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Israel’s war strategy, noting that during the war Hamas has recruited almost as many new fighters as it has lost.
Already on Wednesday, Netanyahu cast doubt on early reports of the agreement, claiming that “several items in the framework have yet to be finalized,” but adding that “we hope the details will be finalized tonight.” The deal, a product of months of on-and-off negotiations moderated by Qatari officials, requires approval by Netanyahu’s cabinet before it is enacted.
Israel and Hamas have a mutual history of violating cease-fire agreements. Rockets punctuated a cease-fire the two sides reached after multiple days of violence in May 2023. Meanwhile, in December 2023, negotiations to extend a cease-fire deal that saw the release of over 100 hostages held by Hamas and almost 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israel collapsed as both sides argued the other had scuttled the arrangement.
Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, warned that the agreement is “a fragile truce, not a cessation of conflict,” and noted that it will “require continued monitoring and accountability and an almost immediate return to the negotiation table to keep the remaining phases alive.”
Vakil also panned the leadership of departing U.S. President Joe Biden in the cease-fire negotiations, saying President-elect Donald Trump’s warnings to both Hamas and Israel have “clearly been effective in reviving the drawn-out negotiations where the Biden administration proved unwilling to exert adequate pressure over Israel’s leadership.”
Trump said Hamas would have “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released by his return to office, seemingly upping the pace of sluggish negotiations that had failed repeatedly under Biden.
Jamie Dettmer and Gabriel Gavin contributed to this report.
The post EU leaders urge Israel and Hamas to abide by new cease-fire deal appeared first on Politico.
