Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages
After more than six weeks of war, the Israeli government and Hamas announced Wednesday morning that they would maintain a brief ceasefire in Gaza to allow the release of 50 hostages captured by Hamas during last month’s attack on Israel.
The decision, first announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in a WhatsApp message, includes a pause of at least four days in the fighting in Gaza. If this holds, it would be the longest cessation of hostilities since Hamas’ attacks on October 7 prompted Israel to begin its bombing and ground invasions of Gaza.
“The Israeli government is committed to the return home of all abductees,” it said. It added: “Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first phase of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 abductees – women and children – will be released for four days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting . The release of every ten additional abductees will result in an additional day of reprieve.”
In its own statement on Telegram, Hamas confirmed the deal, saying: “After many days of difficult and complex negotiations, we announce, with the help and blessing of God, that we have reached a humanitarian ceasefire.”
Hamas added that the 50 Israelis would be released in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and detainees under the age of 19 held in Israeli prisons.
The Israeli hostages may not be released until Thursday so Israeli judges can assess possible legal objections to a deal, according to an Israeli official.
Qatar, the main broker of the deal, did not immediately comment.
Under the terms of the deal, 50 Israeli women and children would be released in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and other prisoners under the age of 19, according to the Hamas statement. The statement said Israel had also agreed to let people in. more aid supplies to Gaza; continue to allow civilians to evacuate northern Gaza; and suspend its flights over Gaza except for a period of six hours per day.
Israel’s statement did not include these details, but the two officials said Israel had agreed to allow Israeli forces to remain in their current positions. Civilians currently in southern Gaza will not be allowed to return to the north, the officials added.
But the Hamas statement also said: “Although we now announce the arrival of the armistice treaty, we affirm that our hands will remain on the trigger, and that our triumphant brigades will remain on the lookout to defend our people and the to defeat occupation and aggression. .”
Before Israeli ministers voted to approve the hostage deal, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s Emergency War Cabinet, said the deal was “difficult and painful from a human perspective.” But he called it the best possible option to allow Israel to “continue the campaign against Hamas.”
Mr Netanyahu, who said this week that freeing the hostages would be a… “holy and supreme task”, is under public pressure to reach an agreement. Hamas seized about 240 hostages when it attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
This month, anguished families of some hostages marched from Tel Aviv to Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, holding up posters of the prisoners and pleading with him to do more to bring their relatives home.
President Biden also sounded optimistic on Tuesday. “We are very close now, very close,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday morning. “We could get some of these hostages home very quickly.”
The United States has been in indirect talks with Israel, Hamas and Qatar for weeks to reach an agreement.
The hostages were seized from homes along the Israeli border, as well as from military bases and a major outdoor music festival. They included civilians, soldiers, people with disabilities, children, grandparents and a nine-month-old baby. The prisoners also included people from more than 40 countries, at least 20 Thai farm workers and at least one Palestinian resident of Israel.
The negotiations focused on the release of Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons – a group that has grown in size since the October 7 attacks.
About 200 boys, most of them teenagers, were in Israeli detention as of this week, along with about 75 women and five teenage girls, according to Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization. Before the Hamas attacks, about 150 boys and 30 women and girls were in Israeli prisons, the group said.
Many recent arrests have been made during Israeli raids in the West Bank, where protests and violence have increased, including attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Israel has said the arrests are part of a counter-terrorism operation against Hamas in the West Bank.
The Israeli military also said it detained 300 people in Gaza during the ground invasion and took them to Israeli territory for “further interrogations.”
A lull in the fighting, however brief, could bring some relief to Gaza’s civilians.
About 13,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled area. More than a million Gazans have been displaced by heavy airstrikes, and many are dangerously short of basic human necessities such as food and water.
As part of its offensive against Hamas, Israel has cut electricity to Gaza and blocked the supply of most fuel, saying Hamas could divert it for military use.
As fighting raged in Gaza, deadly clashes increased on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces exchanged fire with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group that exercises de facto control over southern Lebanon.
On Tuesday, three people, including two journalists, were killed in an attack about six kilometers from the border near the Lebanese town of Tayr Harfa, the Lebanese state news agency reported. The journalists – Farah Omar, a reporter; and Rabih Al-Maamari, a cameraman, were murdered shortly afterwards live broadcastaccording to Al Mayadeen, a network based in Beirut.
At least 50 journalists have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which says it has been one of the deadliest periods for reporters since the group began collecting data in 1992.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati blamed Israel for the deaths. “This attack proves once again that there are no limits to Israel’s crimes,” he said in a statement.
The Israeli military said the episode is currently under review and that its forces have responded to a Hezbollah threat. Hezbollah said it retaliated by attacking Israeli soldiers with guided missiles and bombing an Israeli military base with rockets.
The Israeli military said there had been “a number of launches from Lebanon” but did not provide details.
Reporting was contributed by Liam Stack, Michael Levenson, Aaron Bokserman, Michael D. Shear Euan district, Hwaida Saad, Karen Zraick, Hiba Yazbek, Edward Wong And Johnatan Reiss.