Hamas and Israel have agreed a ceasefire deal pausing the war in Gaza and designed to broker an end to the brutal 15-month conflict, the mediator Qatar has said, and it is set to be officially accepted by Israel after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The announcement on Wednesday night from Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, came after weeks of negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha. There were intensified efforts in recent days to hammer out the final details after increased pressure on Israel to reach a deal from the US president-elect, Donald Trump, which Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged in his media conference.

“Both parties should commit totally to all three phrases [of the agreement] to steer away from further bloodshed and steer away escalation in the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said, adding: “We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter of war.”

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday night before Sheikh Mohammed’s announcement that “several clauses in the framework remain unresolved, and we hope that the details will be finalised tonight”. The issue is believed to relate to a last-minute dispute over the future of the Palestinian territory’s border with Egypt; mediators briefed that the issues had been resolved.

People in Tel Aviv react after the deal was announced. Photograph: Amir Levy/Getty Images

Hamas announced a few hours before the Qatari PM’s news conference that it had formally accepted the terms of the deal. Israel will officially accept the proposal during a cabinet vote on Thursday, and it is expected to go into effect shortly afterwards.

In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday night, people gathered to celebrate the news from Doha, cheering and dancing on dark streets without power. “Praise be to God, we will be free to live like human beings again soon,” a displaced father of four, Mohammed Azaiza, said.

In Tel Aviv, the mood was more sombre as protesters in favour of a deal gathered in a demonstration held to remind Israel’s leaders of their position.

Maoz Inon, an Israeli peace activist whose parents were killed on 7 October, told Al Jazeera: “It’s too late for my parents and thousands of people in Gaza and thousands of Israelis but this is what I’ve been calling for … a deal and the beginning of a peace process. I am happy for all those who will sleep well tonight and go back to their families.”

Israeli media reported that a first batch of hostages seized in the Hamas attack in October 2023 that triggered the war would be released on Sunday in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and wounded people would be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.

Children, women, including female soldiers, and the over-50s would be freed first, Sheikh Mohammed said. In exchange, Israel would release “a number of Palestinians”. Associated Press reported that 50 Palestinians would be released for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas and 30 for each of other hostages.

In a social media post, Trump said: “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East … They will be released shortly.”

He claimed the deal “could have only happened as a result of our historic victory in November, as it signalled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our allies”.

As anticipation of a ceasefire agreement rose earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu and his defence minister, Israel Katz, met one of the leading far-right figures in the coalition, the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich has been highly critical of earlier proposed deals with Hamas. His fellow hardline minister Itamar Ben Gvir had asked him to join forces and pull their parties out of the coalition – potentially causing the government to fall – if the deal was agreed.

However, unlike Ben Gvir, public opinion polls suggest Smotrich could face political oblivion in the event of new elections; political analysts say he has more of an incentive to keep the current Netanyahu coalition afloat.

According to an Israeli television report, Smotrich presented Netanyahu with a list of conditions for his support, including a pledge to go back to war if Hamas emerges from the ruins still in control of the Gaza Strip, and to strictly limit the quantity of humanitarian aid allowed in.

The deal finalised in Doha by US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators is reported to involve a phased ceasefire and largely follows the contours of a truce agreement first set out in May last year. In the first, 42-day stage, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

All fighting is to pause during the first phase, and Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s cities to a buffer zone along the edge of the strip, the details of which are to be laid out in maps both sides have now signed off.

About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been displaced from their homes, and should be allowed to move freely between the south and north of the territory, which Israel has cut in half by installing a military corridor. An increased flow of aid is supposed be allowed into Gaza, though the details of how much assistance is unclear.

The second phase is designed to be more comprehensive, with the remaining living hostages sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners freed, alongside a complete Israeli withdrawal from the strip. That is a step Netanyahu had been very reluctant to take until now, and the specifics of this second stage is subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase.

The third phase would address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza would be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy.

A group representing some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas during the war welcomed the deal, but called for “a framework that ensures the return of every person held captive”.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani addressing a press conference in Doha. Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: “Though we celebrate each reunion, our mission remains unfinished until all hostages – both the living and the dead – are returned home. For the 30 hostages murdered in captivity, this agreement comes tragically too late. This agreement marks a crucial step, but it must be carried through to completion in all its stages. We will not rest until we see the last hostage back home.”

More than 15 months of war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, caused a humanitarian catastrophe, and laid waste most of Gaza’s infrastucture. The international court of justice is studying claims that Israel has committed genocide.

About 1,200 Israelis were killed on 7 October 2023, and another 250 taken hostage. One hundred were freed in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli jails in a ceasefire deal stuck in November 2023 that collapsed after a week.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in an outgoing speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday, outlined a vision for a postwar settlement under which Israel would accept a united leadership of Gaza and the West Bank territories under a reformed Palestinian Authority, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007. Israel has so far rejected those conditions.

He also spoke about significant involvement from the international community and Arab countries, including the possibility of deploying troops to stabilise security and facilitate humanitarian aid delivery.

Speaking at a conference in Norway, the West Bank-based Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, said that the PA must be the “sole governing power” in Gaza after the war.