--- title: A Gaza Ceasefire Is Here. Why Did It Take So Long? description: It takes two to agree to any deal, but it was mainly Netanyahu who kept moving the goal posts, writes Kenneth Roth. canonical: https://time.com/7207277/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-deal/ author: Kenneth Roth article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-15T21:00:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:49:35.048Z article:section: Ideas og:title: A Gaza Ceasefire Is Here. Why Did It Take So Long? og:description: It takes two to agree to any deal, but it was mainly Netanyahu who kept moving the goal posts, writes Kenneth Roth. og:url: https://time.com/7207277/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-deal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4facce0eda65d50/6998b27ed32e931d37cd4b95/GettyImages-1801103706.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Gaza Ceasefire Is Here. Why Did It Take So Long? twitter:description: It takes two to agree to any deal, but it was mainly Netanyahu who kept moving the goal posts, writes Kenneth Roth. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4facce0eda65d50/6998b27ed32e931d37cd4b95/GettyImages-1801103706.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Gaza Ceasefire Is Here. Why Did It Take So Long? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=a6b5b563-d3e4-475f-809d-3c2c6552ee11&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Biden Announces a Gaza Cease-fire Deal Has Been Reached Between Israel and Hamas [Watch (HLS stream): Biden Announces a Gaza Cease-fire Deal Has Been Reached Between Israel and Hamas](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FYAWs1rp.m3u8) (3:21)  _Published 2025-01-15. U.S. President Joe Biden reacted from the White House to the public announcement of a Israel-Hamas ceasefire immediately after fellow mediator Qatar announced a deal had been reached._ by [Kenneth Roth](https://time.com/author/kenneth-roth/) ## Kenneth Roth Kenneth Roth is a visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Jan 15, 2025 9:00 PM UTC U.S. President Joe Biden reacted from the White House to the public announcement of a Israel-Hamas ceasefire immediately after fellow mediator Qatar announced a deal had been reached. by [Kenneth Roth](https://time.com/author/kenneth-roth/) ## Kenneth Roth Kenneth Roth is a visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Jan 15, 2025 9:00 PM UTC What should we make of the [ceasefire](https://time.com/7207250/ceasefire-gaza-israel-hamas/) that could have been concluded months ago, saving thousands of Palestinian lives in Gaza and the lives of at least [some of the hostages](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-confirms-identity-israeli-hostage-killed-gaza-2025-01-10/) held by Hamas and their allies? One can only celebrate that, [at least for six weeks](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/1/15/live-israel-launches-fierce-strikes-on-gaza-as-ceasefire-deal-moves-closer), Palestinian civilians in Gaza might no longer face regular [bombardment, starvation, and deprivation](https://time.com/7049245/palestine-photographer-gaza-october-7/) at the hands of Israeli forces. And up to 33 hostages will enjoy their freedom for the first time since [Oct. 7, 2023](https://time.com/6321849/israel-attack/), as well as hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. At the same time, we must ask: why did it take so long? It takes two to agree to any accord, and undoubtedly there was some recalcitrance on both sides. Yet it was mainly [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu](https://time.com/7008717/benjamin-netanyahu-interview/) who repeatedly moved the goal posts, adding [new conditions](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-cease-fire-talks.html) despite the [enormous suffering](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/15/the-human-toll-of-israels-war-on-gaza-by-the-numbers) perpetuated. The Israeli government has long said that it wanted to “[destroy Hamas](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/20/middleeast/hagari-netanyahu-destroy-hamas-israel-intl/index.html),” but that has always been a pipedream. Degrade Hamas? Yes, that [was done](https://time.com/7094298/yahya-sinwar-hamas-israel/), but destroying Hamas, a group that claimed thousandsof members and administered Gaza for the better part of two decades, always seemed an impossibility. Yet it served to change the subject from an Israeli occupation-without-end that fuels violent resistance, and provided an excuse to keep fighting despite 15 months of horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza. **Read More:** [_A Roadmap to Lasting Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians_](https://time.com/7062979/roadmap-peace-israel-palestinians/) Indeed, the very cruelty of Israel’s military operation—the destruction of [entire neighborhoods](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/gaza-is-in-ruins-after-israels-yearlong-offensive-rebuilding-may-take-decades/), the repeated bombing of Hamas fighters or alleged fighters with little regard for the attendant civilian casualties, the [increase](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/09/middleeast/gaza-death-toll-underreported-study-intl/index.html) in the death toll due to the destruction of much of the territory’s healthcare, and the imposition of near [famine-like conditions](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/famine-conditions-gaza/)—has proved a predictable [spur](https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-has-another-sinwar-and-hes-rebuilding-0a16031d) to further Hamas [recruitment](https://www.thejc.com/news/world/hamas-recruited-fast-blinken-atlantic-council-g1rmtc6q). The Israeli government made peace with the far-more-powerful Lebanese Hezbollah after simply degrading it but not “destroying” it. Why not with Hamas? A big part of the answer lay in Netanyahu’s personal interests. His grasp on power depends on two far-right ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Hoping gradually to [annex](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog%5Fentry/smotrich-ben-gvir-call-for-annexing-west-bank-in-response-to-icj-ruling/) all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, they saw the war in Gaza as an opportunity to push some 2 million Palestinians from the Strip. Egypt, of course, [doesn’t want them](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1232826942/rafah-gaza-palestinians-egypt-border)—it already has enough economic and security problems. But Smotrich spoke of the “[voluntary emigration](https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-doubles-down-on-resettlement-of-gazans-rejecting-us-criticism/)” of Palestinians out of Gaza, meaning the creation of conditions inside that were so dangerous and inhumane that Palestinians would feel they had no choice but to flee their homeland. Like the _Nakba_, or “catastrophe,” as Palestinians refer to their mass expulsion in 1948, the flight would be one-way; the Israeli goal was that they would never be allowed to return. As recently as this week, Ben-Gvir warned that he would [leave](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-minister-ben-gvir-threatens-quit-netanyahu-cabinet-over-gaza-deal-2025-01-14/) Netanyahu’s government if a ceasefire deal were struck. He still may. That would threaten not only Netanyahu’s hold on power but also his political future and personal liberty, because an end to the war is likely to mean a political reckoning for the [intelligence failures](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html) that enabled the Oct. 7 attack and the completion of his trial on pending [corruption](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-take-stand-his-corruption-trial-first-time-2024-12-09/) charges. **Read More:** [_How Netanyahu Undermined Israel’s Security_](https://time.com/6322410/how-netanyahu-undermined-israel-security/) So what changed now? The timing suggests that an important factor was the impending return to the White House of [Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/). He had [threatened](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/07/politics/trump-warning-gaza-hostages-negotiations-inauguration/index.html) that “all hell will break out” if a deal were not concluded. It was never clear what he meant. The idea that he would cut arms sales and military aid to Israel when Joe Biden [never did](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/us-spends-a-record-17-9-billion-on-military-aid-to-israel-since-last-oct-7/) was not in the cards. As for Palestinians, it was difficult to imagine a more hellish condition, other than the mass forced deportation that would be a sure route to further global opprobrium for Israel. Rather, Netanyahu seems to have used the excuse of Trump’s threat to insist to his far-right allies that he had no choice but to accept a ceasefire. Whether that excuse works remains to be seen. That the fate of 2 million Gazans depends on such political maneuvering is outrageous. To be sure, Israel had every right to respond to Hamas’s horrendous attack. But it had no right to a response that showed such callous indifference to civilian life—one that a growing number of governments, human rights groups, and academics [say](https://www.vox.com/politics/378913/israel-gaza-genocide-icj) amounts to genocide. And it had no right to perpetuate that war when its rationale as a matter of national security had long ago dissipated and the war had become simply a tool for one man to retain power. Netanyahu already faces International Criminal Court [charges](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2exvx944o) for alleged war crimes in Gaza. But he also deserves our unadulterated condemnation. Let us hope he goes down in history not only as the man who was willing to rip up the most basic rules designed to spare civilians the hazards of war. He must also be known as the man who accepted countless deaths just to cling to power. ## Transcript [00:00] Good afternoon. And it's a very good afternoon. [00:05] Because at long last, [00:07] I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. [00:14] More than 15 months of conflict that began with Hezbollah's brutal massacre on October 7, [00:21] more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, [00:25] their families, the Israeli people, [00:27] more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people of Gaza, [00:33] fighting in Gaza will stop, [00:36] and soon the hostages will return home to their families. [00:39] The elements of this deal are what I laid out in detail this past May. [00:45] Which was embraced by countries around the world [00:49] and endorsed overwhelmingly by the UN Security Council. [00:54] The deal is structured in three phases. [00:57] Phase one will last six weeks. [01:00] It includes a full and complete ceasefire, [01:03] withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of [01:07] Gaza and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, [01:12] including women and elderly and the wounded. [01:16] And I'm proud to say Americans will be part [01:18] of that hostage release on phase one, as well. [01:21] And the vice president and I cannot wait to welcome them home. [01:26] I'd also note this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, [01:32] but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. [01:37] In these past few days, [01:39] we've been speaking as one team. [01:42] This has been a time of real turmoil in the Middle East. [01:46] But as I prepare to leave office, [01:48] our friends are strong, [01:50] our enemies are weak, and there's a genuine opportunities for a new future. [01:55] You know, during the next six weeks, [01:57] Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get Phase two, [02:02] which is a permanent end of the war. [02:05] Let me say it again, a permanent end of the war. [02:07] There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two. [02:13] But the plan says, [02:15] If negotiations take longer than six weeks, [02:18] the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue. [02:24] I've spoken to the Emir of Kuwait and the president of Egypt, [02:28] and we have pledged to make sure the negotiations will [02:32] keep moving forward for as long as it takes. [02:36] Then when phase two begins, [02:39] there will be an exchange for release of the remaining living hostages, [02:44] including male soldiers, and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza, [02:50] and the temporary ceasefire will become permanent. [02:53] And finally, phase three, [02:56] any final remains of hostages who have been killed will be returned to their families, [03:02] and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin. [03:07] This is the Ceasfire agreement I introduced last spring. [03:12] Today, Hamas and Israel have agreed to [03:16] that ceasefire agreement and the whole ending the war. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7207277/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-deal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7207277/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-deal/"},"headline":"A Gaza Ceasefire Is Here. Why Did It Take So Long?","datePublished":"2025-01-15T21:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:49:35.048Z","description":"One can only celebrate an end to the bombing in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. 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