A senior Hamas official and the movement’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, announced on Thursday that Hamas has received firm guarantees from mediators — including the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye — that the brutal Israeli war on Gaza has “ended permanently.”

In a televised address to the Palestinian people, al-Hayya declared that an agreement had officially been reached to bring a complete end to Israel’s aggression against the besieged enclave and to begin implementing a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip.

“Today, we announce that an agreement has been reached to end the war and aggression against our people and to begin implementing a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of the occupation forces,” al-Hayya said, describing the deal as a victory achieved through the steadfastness and sacrifice of the Palestinian people.

According to al-Hayya, the agreement ensures a sustained and comprehensive ceasefire, the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the full reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt — Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel.

As part of the deal, Israel will release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained during the recent war, marking one of the largest prisoner release arrangements in years. The agreement, he emphasized, represents a decisive step toward ending the Israeli occupation’s siege and restoring freedom to thousands of Palestinian families torn apart by imprisonment and displacement.

Al-Hayya further stated that the mediating nations — the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye — had all provided written and verbal guarantees confirming that this agreement means “the war is completely over.”

“Our people have endured immense suffering and loss, but today they stand proud and victorious. The blood of the martyrs has not been shed in vain. This agreement was achieved through the resilience of our nation and the unwavering resistance of our people,” he said.

The announcement came amid widespread celebrations across the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and Palestinian refugee communities abroad, where people hailed the agreement as a triumph of endurance and unity over the occupation’s attempts to crush the will of the Palestinian people.

Observers described the ceasefire as a historic breakthrough, noting that it comes after nearly two years of relentless Israeli bombardment, massacres, and blockade that left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, most of them women and children.

Regional analysts say the guarantees provided by the mediators — particularly Türkiye and Qatar — mark a shift toward a new phase in which international actors are expected to play a more assertive role in holding the Zionist regime accountable for any future violations. (ILKHA)