ISTANBUL

Celebrations erupted in several Arab countries on Thursday at news of a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar announced on Wednesday a cease-fire agreement to end over 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the 3-phase deal will be effective on Sunday.

The deal includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Waving Palestinian flags, hundreds of people took to the streets in the Jordanian capital Amman to celebrate the cease-fire announcement.

Drivers blew the horns of their cars in joy as others, wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, distributed sweets to passersby, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Hundreds of Palestinians staged celebratory rallies in several areas in the Israel-occupied West Bank, according to footage shared on social media platforms.

Palestinians chanted slogans against the decades-long Israeli occupation in the cities of Nablus and Jenin in the northern West Bank.

In Morocco, scores gathered in the capital Rabat, carrying pictures of the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and waving Palestinian flags. A car procession was also staged in Tangier in northwestern Morocco to celebrate the Gaza deal.

In Syria, thousands burst into celebration in Damascus, Aleppo, and Hama, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans in support of Gaza.

Similar celebrations were held at the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, with hundreds marching in several Lebanese cities, including Beirut, Sidon, and Tripoli.

In Tunisia, scores gathered in the capital Tunis, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and celebrating the deal.

Similar celebratory marches were staged in several Yemeni cities, including the capital Sanaa, Marib, and Taiz.

In Mauritania, hundreds staged rallies in the capital Nouakchott to celebrate the cease-fire agreement.

More than 46,700 people, mostly women and children were killed and over 110,000 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.

The war has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar