While welcoming government mediators' Wednesday announcement that Hamas and Israel agreed to release captives and cease fighting in the Gaza Strip, human rights advocates, humanitarian groups, and United Nations leaders also renewed calls for accountability and an influx of aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The three-phase agreement—negotiated by Egypt, Qatar, and the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations—comes after a 15-month, U.S.-backed Israeli assault that has killed at least 46,707 people in Gaza and injured 110,265. Experts warn the true death toll since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack is likely far higher.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, said that the final details are still being sorted out, but several organizations and leaders around the world framed the "long overdue" deal—set to take effect Sunday—as progress and issued clear calls about what should come next.

"Our most urgent call is for immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian aid and support, ensuring that vital resources and medical assistance can reach those in dire need."

"After so much devastation and death, we celebrate this cease-fire deal even as it comes far too late," said the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which has supported humanitarian efforts in Gaza since 1948. "We urge those in power to abide by the terms of the deal and their obligations under international law."

Noting that "in Lebanon, Israel has violated the cease-fire terms approximately a hundred times without consequence," AFSC stressed that "continued pressure is needed to ensure the terms of the deal are followed and push for a long-term political solution that brings an end to forced displacement, occupation, and apartheid in Palestine."

"As a U.S.-based Quaker organization we want in particular to hold our own government accountable," AFSC added. "We need an embargo on U.S. arms sales to Israel in order to deter future atrocities. Genocide on this scale would not have been possible without billions of dollars in U.S. military funding, and the Biden administration could have forced a cease-fire at any time over the past 15 months."

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for slaughtering tens of thousands of Palestinians, decimating Gaza's civilian infrastructure, and significantly limiting the flow of necessities including food into the enclave. AFSC said that "it is imperative that the cease-fire brings a measure of relief and a surge of lifesaving humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza."

Many other groups also demanded a flood of aid, including the International Rescue Committee, which has had teams on the ground in Gaza. Calling the cease-fire "essential and overdue," IRC president and CEO David Miliband said that "we are determined to expand our scale and impact as conditions allow. The scars of this war will be long-lasting, but a surge of aid is desperately needed to provide immediate relief to civilians. This will take flexible funding and the free flow of aid and aid workers."

Refugees International explained that "the deal, while a start, does not go far enough in outlining the explicit protections Israel and Hamas are obligated to provide Palestinian civilians. We are particularly concerned that the agreement ties the delivery of humanitarian aid and civilian protections—which are obligations under international law—to both sides' compliance with prisoner exchanges."

"Every cease-fire attempt between Israel and Hamas has ended in violations, and this should not be permitted to again imperil humanitarian action," the group said. "Humanitarian aid is a right under international law, not a bargaining tool. Humanitarian access must be ensured under any scenario, and the Israeli government must allow unimpeded humanitarian aid and access into all parts of Gaza, through all functional border crossings."

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam's regional director in the Middle East and North Africa, similarly said that during the initial phase, "our most urgent call is for immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian aid and support, ensuring that vital resources and medical assistance can reach those in dire need. The opening of all crossings for aid deliveries is vital. Israel must allow the unhindered flow of aid and restore commercial activity to reach every corner of the besieged enclave to avert famine."

"Israel has waged terrible collective punishment upon Palestinians in Gaza including crimes against humanity—using food and water as weapons of war, forcibly displacing virtually the entire population, besieging North Gaza, and rendering Gaza virtually unlivable," the Oxfam leader added. "Thousands of Palestinians have been unlawfully detained and tortured without due process. These actions must not go unanswered—international law and norms must be applied universally, including to Israel, who must be held to account for its war crimes, to ensure justice for victims and deter future violations."

Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of MedGlobal, which has provided medical care in Gaza, pointed out that detainees in Israeli custody include doctors who attempted to care for war victims as Israel laid to waste the strip's healthcare system.

"This cease-fire is cause for celebration, even as we know that it was needed many months ago, and that far too many have been killed, maimed, and rendered homeless or bereft of their family," said Sahloul. "We cannot forget that many Palestinian healthcare workers, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and six other MedGlobal colleagues, remain unjustly detained and imprisoned by Israel. These medical personnel must be immediately released, and the safety and neutrality of healthcare providers and facilities must be guaranteed—as required by international humanitarian law."

"To promote true peace, prevent further suffering, and to help the people of Gaza recover from their terrible ordeal, all phases of this cease-fire must be fully carried out to bring a definitive and lasting end to the war," the doctor added. "The United States and the entire international community must commit to a massive program of aid and rebuilding in Gaza."

Welcoming the agreement and commending the mediators, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that "the United Nations stands ready to support the implementation of this deal and scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians who continue to suffer. It is imperative that this cease-fire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza."

"I urge the parties and all relevant partners to seize this opportunity to establish a credible political path to a better future for Palestinians, Israelis, and the broader region," Guterres continued. "Ending the occupation and achieving a negotiated two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, in line with international law, relevant U.N. resolutions, and previous agreements, remain an urgent priority."

Other U.N. leaders echoed his remarks, including United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell, who noted that "the war has exacted a horrific toll on Gaza's children—reportedly leaving at least 14,500 dead, thousands more injured, an estimated 17,000 unaccompanied or separated from their parents, and nearly 1 million displaced from their homes."

"The cease-fire must, finally, afford humanitarian actors the opportunity to safely roll out the massive response inside the Gaza Strip that is so desperately needed," she said. "This includes unimpeded access to reach all children and families with essential food and nutrition, healthcare and psychosocial support, clean water, and sanitation, education, and learning, as well as cash assistance and the resumption of commercial trucking operations."

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also emphasized that "food, water, medicine, shelter, and protection are the top priorities. We have no time to lose."

"Those responsible for the heinous acts of October 7, the subsequent unlawful killings of civilians across Gaza, and for all other crimes under international law must be held to account," Türk added. "The right of victims to full reparations must be upheld. There is no true way forward without honest truth-telling and accountability on all sides."

Some organizations, like AFSC, called out their governments for enabling the devastating Israeli assault. As the United Kingdom's prime minister, Keir Starmer, addressed the deal in a lengthy statement, Tim Bierley, Gaza campaign manager at Global Justice Now, said that "far from using its position to help end the bloodshed, the U.K. has provided Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover throughout its attacks, even seeking to deepen trade ties with the country amid daily massacres."

"While the U.K.'s role in this atrocity cannot be reversed, Keir Starmer's government must now work with other countries to prevent further violence, seek justice for Palestinians, and address the root cause of the conflict: Israel's occupation of Palestinian land," he argued. "This means pulling every lever necessary to end the occupation, including suspending the U.K.'s cozy trade relationship with Israel which serves to prop up the illegal occupation, supporting international measures to hold Israel's leaders to account, and suspending all remaining arms sales to Israel."

U.S. campaigners also urged their government to cut off weapons to Israel. Jewish Voice for Peace said that "as Americans, we understand that the Israeli genocide has been carried out with U.S. bombs, U.S. funds, and U.S.-facilitated impunity—we continue to demand a full weapons embargo now. We also demand an end to the complicity of corporations that profit from genocide."

"Left in the hands of the U.S. and Israeli governments, weapons manufacturers, and warmongering institutions, this fragile respite will not mean an end to Israeli genocide, or to the violent status quo of Israeli apartheid," the group warned. "Every day of the last 467 days, millions of people around the world have come together to demand an end to the genocide and Palestinian freedom. Together, we must ensure this agreement becomes a step on the path toward Palestinian liberation—the only way to achieve a just peace for all."

Some critics specifically took aim at outgoing President Joe Biden, who proposed a very similar cease-fire agreement back in May. The Democrat is set to leave office on Monday and, because Vice President Kamala Harris lost the November election, he will be replaced by Republican President-elect Donald Trump—who has been pushing for a Gaza cease-fire, or at least the appearance of one, before he returns to the White House for a second term.

"A recent YouGov poll found that 29% of nonvoters who supported Biden in 2020 cited ending Israel's violence in Gaza as the primary reason they chose not to vote for Kamala Harris," Uncommitted National Movement co-chairs Layla Elabed and Lexis Zeidan highlighted. "This underscores the Biden-Harris administration's failure to exert meaningful pressure on the Israeli government at critical moments when decisive action could have saved countless lives."

"We are also alarmed by reports that the Netanyahu government has allegedly struck deals with the Trump administration—promising settlement expansion, the curtailment of humanitarian aid, and an eventual return to Gaza military operations—in exchange for boosting Trump's image ahead of his inauguration," the pair added.

Center for International Policy president and CEO Nancy Okail said, "The fact that Netanyahu is finally accepting the deal mere days before his favored candidate in the recent U.S. presidential election will return to the Oval Office is confirmation of what Israeli, Arab, and even some U.S. officials involved in negotiations have been saying for months—that Netanyahu obstructed and delayed a cease-fire and hostage release to further his own personal political interests."

"Netanyahu's acquiescence to Donald Trump's insistence that a cease-fire be in place when he takes office next week ironically shows how effective actual pressure can be in changing Israeli government behavior," she continued.

"It will forever be part of the legacy of President Biden and his top foreign policy advisers that they not only provided diplomatic cover for and enabled Netanyahu's prolonging of this horrific war, but continued to arm Israeli atrocities against civilians in Gaza in clear violation of international and U.S. law," Okail added. "Thanks largely to his role in sustaining the carnage in Gaza, Biden hands over to Trump a foreign policy landscape in which international norms and U.S. credibility have been further eroded rather than strengthened."

Demand Progress senior policy adviser Cavan Kharrazian pledged that "as details emerge over the exact contours of the interim cease-fire agreement, we will continue to pressure Congress and the incoming administration to support a permanent, comprehensive end to this conflict—one that addresses its root causes, secures the release of all hostages, and paves the way towards a durable two-state solution that respects the rights, security, and dignity of all parties."

"Additionally, it is imperative to immediately begin the unimpeded delivery of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza and the restoration of full funding to UNRWA," Kharrazian said, referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. "We also continue to oppose the proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel and, while we support related efforts to negotiate for regional stability and peace, we strongly reject any plans for a defense treaty with Saudi Arabia."