Israel and Hamas agree four-day ceasefire and release of 50 hostages held in Gaza
The Israeli government has announced the deal for the release of 50 hostages, all of whom are women and children, over four days, during which there will be pause in fighting.
Groups of 12-13 hostages will be released per day, the Times of Israel reports.
Here is the full statement on the deal from the Israeli Government:
The Government of Israel is obligated to return home all of the hostages. Tonight, the Government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held. The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.
The Government of Israel, the IDF and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.
The Times of Israel also reports that there may be 30 more hostages released and that the pause in fighting could be extended “by a day for each group of 10 more Israeli hostages”.
Earlier, Israeli media, including Channel 12 news, reported that if the deal was approved, the first release of hostages is expected on Thursday.
The delay is because if the deal is agreed to, there must be a 24-hour waiting period before it is implemented, to give Israeli citizens the chance to ask the supreme court to block the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to reports in Israeli media.
Key events
Israel provides details of Palestinian prisoners to be released
Israel provided details on Wednesday about Palestinian prisoners slated for release under a foreign-mediated deal to recover hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, a publication that appeared intended to allow for any last-minute legal challenges.
There must be a 24-hour waiting period before the hostage deal is implemented, to give Israeli citizens the chance to ask the supreme court to block the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to reports in Israeli media.
The list posted on the Justice Ministry appeared to include 300 prisoners, which is twice the jailed 150 women and children that Israel has agreed to free in the initial four-day pause.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the hostage deal was “the result of tireless diplomacy and relentless effort across the Department and broader United States government.”
“While this deal marks significant progress, we will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza,” Blinken said.
European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen has welcomed the agreement between Hamas and Israel, Reuters reports.
If you’re just joining us, Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal for the release of 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza in return for 150 Palestinian women and children to be freed from Israeli jails during a four-day ceasefire, both sides announced on Wednesday morning.
The Israeli hostages will be released over the period of four days, the Israeli government said.
The deal was confirmed by a senior US official, who told reporters that the freed hostages would include three Americans, one of them a three year-old girl. The official said that the first hostage release is expected on Thursday morning, and the total number of hostages freed could rise.
The ceasefire would be extended by a day for every 10 additional hostages released, the Israeli government said.
Israel will cease air sorties in southern Gaza and restrict them to six hours a day in the north, according to the Hamas account of the deal, which also says Israeli forces will not bring military vehicles into Gaza during the ceasefire, nor try to detain anyone.
Why has a hostage agreement been reached now?
Dan Sabbagh
Israel’s government has come under intense pressure domestically to make progress on returning hostages. Their families mounted a high-profile “bring them home” campaign, meeting members of the Israeli war cabinet on Monday night. The military assault on northern Gaza had resulted in only one hostage being rescued alive.
International pressure has also been mounting in response to the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza. Bombing by the Israeli military followed by the ground invasion have caused a civilian crisis: food, water, fuel and medicines are desperately short, 1.7 million people out of 2.3 million have been displaced, and only 10 out of 36 hospitals are functioning.
Last week, 68% of Americans said they supported a ceasefire, reflecting concerns in the US that Israel had gone too far in its military response.
Hamas is losing ground on the battlefield, as Israel’s forces have been able to capture large parts of northern Gaza, including Gaza City. Israel’s military claims to have inflicted heavy losses on 10 out of 24 Hamas battalions and its leadership is believed to have relocated to the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian official news agency Wafa reports that an administrator at the Indonesian hospital has received a text message saying, ““A special warning to evacuate the Indonesian hospital. The Israeli army has information about (military activity) inside the hospital, and the army is requesting an immediate halt to all military actions in the hospital. If military activity does not stop within 4 hours, the army reserves the right to engage in activity against military operations in accordance with international laws.”
The hospital administrator who spoke to Wafa said that the message had “created a state of panic” at the hospital.
The Guardian has not confirmed these reports independently.
Israeli military orders evacuation of Indonesian hospital – report
Mounir Al-Barsh, director-general of Gaza’s health ministry, has told Al Jazeera TV that the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel said militants were operating from the facility and threatened to act against them within four hours, he said.
After al-Shifa was raided last week, the Indonesian hospital was the only facility in northern Gaza still treating patients, with dozens of those killed and wounded by Israeli attacks flowing in overnight to Monday, according to medics.
But since Monday the hospital has been targeted by Israeli forces. Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that Israel was “laying siege” to the hospital.
“We fear the same thing will happen there as it did in al-Shifa,” he said.
What has been agreed?
Dan Sabbagh
Fifty women and children held hostage by Hamas and other groups in Gaza since 7 October are to be released in exchange for a four-day ceasefire in a deal brokered by Qatar with the support of the US.
A US official said three Americans would be among those freed, including a girl who turns four this week, and that the first release should come by Thursday.
According to Hamas, Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children, from Israeli jails and allow hundreds of aid trucks a day to cross the Rafah border with Egypt, providing humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel will cease air sorties in southern Gaza and restrict them to six hours a day in the north, according to the Hamas account of the deal, which also says Israeli forces will not bring military vehicles into Gaza during the ceasefire, nor try to detain anyone.
The ceasefire would be extended by a day for every 10 additional hostages released, the Israeli government said.
The agreement temporarily pauses a war that has lasted more than six weeks so far. It has cost the lives of 14,128 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the government media office in Gaza, and more than 1,200 people in Israel, most of whom were victims of the surprise Hamas cross-border attack on 7 October.
US Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer has released a statement on the deal, saying he is “pleased and relieved”.
He adds that the agreement will also, “give the International Red Cross access to treat the hostages who remain in Gaza for the “first time since they were taken on October 7th”.
Schumer adds:
The fact that this agreement to pause hostilities and free hostages will allow additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza for the millions of innocent Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas is a positive development.
The Senate will continue working to pass additional humanitarian assistance for innocent Palestinians, and make sure that Israel has the aid it needs to defend itself to ensure Hamas can never again pose such a threat to Israel.
AFP reports that ahead of the cabinet vote, Netanyahu had faced a revolt from within his right-wing coalition, some of whom believe it gave too much to the Palestinian militants they have vowed to crush.
Hardline Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir signalled he would vote against the agreement, saying it should include the release of Israeli soldiers also taken by Hamas.
Israel’s hawkish Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said before the crunch meeting that he had won assurances that the deal would not spell the end of the war to destroy Hamas.
“Immediately after we have exhausted this phase”, he said, security operations would “continue in full force.”
In a statement, the Israeli government underscored that the truce agreement would not mean the end of the war in Gaza.
Israel “will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” a government statement said.
At least 14,128 Palestinians, the vast majority civilians, have been killed Gaza since Israel’s unprecedented airstrikes began after 7 October, according to the government media office in Gaza. The latest death toll update includes at least 5,600 children and 3,550 women.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
