Israel, Hamas agree four-day truce from today

50 Israeli hostages, 150 Palestinians to be released

FE Team | Published: November 23, 2023 00:15:55

GAZA/JERSUALEM, Nov 22 (Agencies): Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a ceasefire in Gaza for at least four days, to let in aid and release at least 50 hostages captured by militants in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
The four-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will begin at 10am on Thursday, Hamas says
Israel has not yet commented on when the pause will begin, but Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he expected the first hostages to be received on Thursday
Under the agreement, 50 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas will be released and 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli jails freed
Families of those held in Gaza have said every captive "needs to come home" and that each hour is "critical"
Up to another 150 Palestinians could be released - as well as another 50 hostages from Gaza - after the initial four-day pause
The first truce in a brutal near seven-week-old war, reached after mediation by Qatar, was hailed around the world as a sign of progress that could ease the suffering of Gaza's civilians and bring more Israeli hostages home. Israel said the ceasefire could be extended further, as long as more hostages were freed.
Hamas and allied groups captured around 240 hostages when gunmen rampaged through southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7. Previously, Hamas had released just four.
The truce was not expected to begin until Thursday morning. The start time had yet to be officially announced as of early afternoon on Wednesday.
A statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Tuesday night said 50 women and children would be released over four days at a rate of at least 10 per day. Beyond that, the truce could be extended as long as an additional ten hostages were freed per day.
It made no mention of the release of Palestinian detainees, but Israel's justice ministry published a list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners who could be freed.
"Israel's government is committed to return all the hostages home. Tonight, it approved the proposed deal as a first stage to achieving this goal," said the government statement.
Hamas said the initial 50 hostages would be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails. Hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, medical and fuel supplies would enter Gaza, while Israel would halt all air sorties over southern Gaza and maintain a daily six-hour daytime no-fly window in the north, it said.
Israel has placed Gaza under siege and relentless bombardment since the Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 14,000 Gazans have been killed, around 40% of them children, according to medical officials in the Hamas-ruled territory, figures deemed reliable by the United Nations.