Palestinian Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzook said today that the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel will take effect tomorrow at 10 am local time.
As reported by the Israeli media, he said this in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to release 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons during a four-day ceasefire, both sides announced Wednesday morning.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the agreement and thanked Egypt and Qatar for their “crucial leadership and partnership” in reaching the agreement. He added: “I appreciate the commitment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have taken in supporting the extended pause to ensure that this deal can be fully implemented and to ensure that additional humanitarian aid is provided to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza… It is important that all aspects of this agreement are fully implemented.
A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office stated that the “lull” in Israeli military operations would be extended by one more day for every 10 hostages released.
Hamas confirmed that an agreement had been reached, calling it a “humanitarian truce” in which 150 Palestinian women and children would be freed from Israeli prisons. The militant movement said expanded humanitarian deliveries were also part of the deal, as well as a halt to Israeli flights over southern Gaza during a four-day pause, with flights over northern Gaza limited to six hours a day. According to a Hamas statement, Israel has agreed not to arrest anyone in Gaza during the temporary truce.
Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to release 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons during a four-day ceasefire, both sides announced Wednesday morning.
The deal was confirmed by a senior American official, who told reporters that three Americans, including a three-year-old girl, would be among the freed hostages. The official said the first hostage release was expected on Thursday morning, and the total number of freed hostages could rise.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the agreement and thanked Egypt and Qatar for their “crucial leadership and partnership” in reaching the deal. He added: “I appreciate the commitment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have taken in supporting the extended pause to ensure that this deal can be fully implemented and to ensure that additional humanitarian aid is provided to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza… It is important that all aspects of this agreement are fully implemented.
“Today’s deal should also bring home the American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all freed.”
A senior US official said: “The deal is ultimately structured so there is a possibility of releasing more hostages even after the first 50″, adding that the deal now applies to women and children in the first phase, but with the expectation that the others will be released as well”.
A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office stated that the “lull” in Israeli military operations would be extended by one more day for every 10 hostages released. It did not say when the truce would begin, although Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to his cabinet that the first hostages should be freed within 48 hours of the deal.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said early Wednesday that the start time of the agreement would be announced in the next 24 hours and that the ceasefire would “allow for the entry of more humanitarian convoys and humanitarian aid, including fuel intended for humanitarian needs”.
Hamas confirmed that an agreement had been reached, calling it a “humanitarian truce” in which 150 Palestinian women and children would be freed from Israeli prisons. The militant movement said expanded humanitarian deliveries were also part of the deal, as well as a halt to Israeli flights over southern Gaza during a four-day pause, with flights over northern Gaza limited to six hours a day. According to a Hamas statement, Israel has agreed not to arrest anyone in Gaza during the temporary truce.
“The Israeli government is committed to the return of all abductees to their homes,” the government statement said. “Tonight, the government approved the draft of 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. Freeing every 10 additional abductees will result in an additional day of respite.”
Israel’s confirmation of the agreement followed an extended meeting of Israel’s 38-member cabinet over the terms, in the face of opposition from the far right.
The debate ended shortly before 3 a.m. in Tel Aviv. Before the cabinet vote, Netanyahu assured his cabinet that all security agencies supported the hostage deal and that it would not mean the end of the military campaign against Hamas, which Netanyahu said would continue after the ceasefire. “We are at war and we will continue the war,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.”
Israel also agreed to allow additional aid to Gaza, which is suffering an acute humanitarian crisis after seven weeks of relentless bombing and blockade.
The agreement is also thought to include Red Cross visits to the remaining hostages and the distribution of medicine.
The deal, reached after weeks of talks brokered by Qatar, comes more than six weeks after the conflict began on October 7, when Hamas launched attacks from Gaza into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 240 hostages. More than 14,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the government’s Gaza media office. Another 2,700 others are missing and believed to be buried under the rubble.
Netanyahu, who has vowed to “crush” Hamas, made the announcement after Israel’s war cabinet was convened followed by meetings of the wider security cabinet and the entire government. Opening the closing meeting, Netanyahu said the deal was a difficult but correct decision, claiming he had the full support of security agencies.
“They have made it absolutely clear in their professional judgment that the security of our forces will be ensured during the break and intelligence efforts will be made during those days,” Netanyahu said. “They made it clear that not only would there be no harm, but that it would allow the IDF to prepare to continue fighting.”
Even as Netanyahu’s government discussed the deal, airstrikes continued in Gaza and Hamas fired rockets into Israel.
Netanyahu also said that the intervention of US President Joe Biden helped improve the agreement to include the release of more hostages with fewer concessions. If implemented, the deal would still leave about 190 hostages in Gaza, about half of whom are believed to be military personnel.
Qatar, where Hamas has a political office, has been the main mediator between Israel and Hamas, although Egypt and others have played a significant role. Hamas is not holding all hostages, some are in the hands of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a separate extremist faction, and criminals in Gaza, Israeli and other officials say.
Most of the hostages are Israeli, but almost half of them have dual citizenship, including Argentines, Germans, Americans, French, Thais, Nepalese and Russians. Hospitals in Israel are ready to receive those released, Israeli media reports. The deal is a major propaganda coup for Hamas and a personal victory for Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, who spent 23 years in Israeli prisons before being released in an exchange in 2011. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s hit list and his whereabouts are unknown.
Ensuring their side meets the terms of the deal will require Hamas to ensure that all 50 hostages reach Gaza’s borders safely, a major logistical challenge. The group had earlier indicated during the talks that they did not know the exact locations of each hostage due to different groups holding them across the territory.
Netanyahu will now be under domestic pressure to release the other hostages, but also face increasing political risks. Several far-right parties that are part of the ruling coalition opposed the proposed deal on Tuesday night and called for a stepped-up Israeli offensive in Gaza to secure better terms. Their statements sparked protests by the families of the hostages in Tel Aviv.
The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced late Tuesday the death of one of the Israeli hostages it was holding.
Hamas released two Americans and two Israeli citizens in mid-October. The Israeli army rescued one of its soldiers last month and last week said it recovered the bodies of two hostages during the offensive, The Guardian reports.
