Nearly seven weeks after the conflict began, Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for a four-day cease-fire and the release of at least fifty women and children held captive in Gaza. This represents a significant diplomatic achievement.
According to the agreement, which was outlined in a statement by the main negotiator Qatar, a number of Palestinian women and children who were being held captive by Hamas would be released in exchange for hostages held by Hamas. According to the statement, the truce would also permit the entry of “a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid.”
The statement also stated that the start time of the fighting pause would be disclosed within the next twenty-four hours. The truce is scheduled to start on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), according to an Israeli official.
The pause could continue for up to ten days, but Israeli officials think that is unlikely to happen.
When the agreement was approved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that there would be one more day of ceasefire for every ten hostages freed.
As part of the agreement to secure the release of 50 women and children held captive in Gaza, the US and Israel will also cease drone flights over the region for six hours every day, according to Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer.
The agreement should spur the international community to “seize this brief window of opportunity to generate further momentum for the diplomatic track,” according to Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s lead negotiator.
The families of those held captive have welcomed the news with relief and increased hope, and they are now looking forward to hearing more about their loved ones.
Positive responses have also been received from it internationally. While Qatar’s prime minister expressed hope that the development will establish “a comprehensive and sustainable agreement that will put an end to the war and the bloodshed,” Egyptian President Abdelfattah El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to finding a “sustainable” solution for the Palestinian people.
According to Jordan’s foreign ministry, the agreement mediated by outside parties is intended to be a “step” toward a “complete cessation of the war” in Gaza. The agreement was greeted with enthusiasm by Russian Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who called it “the first good news from Gaza in a very long time” and stated that Moscow views it “positively.”
According to figures from the Israeli military, Hamas is holding 239 hostages in Gaza, including foreign nationals from 26 different countries. On October 7, in a well-planned and brutal surprise attack, Hamas militants crossed the border and abducted a large number of people at gunpoint, killing about 1,200 people. This was the biggest attack on Israel since the country’s founding in 1948.
In retaliation for the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas, established a blockade on Gaza that severed the country’s supplies of fuel, food, water, and medicine, and launched an unrelenting air and ground offensive. Based on data from Hamas-run health authorities, the Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank estimates that since October 7, 12,700 people have died in Gaza.
The newly announced agreement, which was reached after weeks of talks involving the US and Egypt, was approved by Israel’s cabinet early on Wednesday morning after a six-hour meeting that an Israeli official called “tense and emotional.”
If conditions are fulfilled, about 150 Palestinian detainees would be freed over the course of four days during the initial hostage release, according to the government.
According to the Israeli Cabinet Secretariat, the release of 150 security prisoners would take place in four phases over the course of four days. The release of Palestinian prisoners would be contingent upon the daily return of at least ten Israeli abductees to Israeli security forces. Israel declared that during those four days, there would be no fighting.
However, it also made it apparent that after this round of hostage releases is over, Israel intends to continue its air and ground campaign “to complete the eradication of Hamas.”
It’s still unclear when exactly the pause will begin and how the hostages will be freed. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said on Wednesday morning that the military was still figuring out when exactly to suspend operations.
“We will not stop fighting Hamas until the Israeli government tells us to, and we will honour that when the agreement is finalized. However, we’ll be extremely watchful on the ground,” Conricus remarked.
The agreement came about as a result of the hostage families’ increasing pressure on the Israeli government to respond to their demands for information and action from Netanyahu. It also occurs in the midst of mounting international pressure to provide Gazans with additional humanitarian aid.
Families in Anticipation: Anxious Moments as Hostages’ Release Draws Near
Some relatives of the hostages held by Hamas expressed relief and anticipation as they awaited word on whether their loved ones would be part of the negotiated release, even though the specifics of the release were still unknown.
Hearing of the hostage deal gave Anat Moshe Shoshany “so much hope,” according to the woman whose grandmother was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz on the back of a moped.
Shoshany uttered, “I sincerely hope to see someone walking out of there alive.” “We desire the opportunity to see our loved ones again. We only want this, and I sincerely hope that this is only the beginning of this mess.
Abigail Edan, a 3-year-old US citizen being held captive by Hamas, has a great-aunt named Liz Hirsh Naftali, who described the situation as “excruciating.”
She remarked, “We have been worrying, wondering, praying, and hoping for the past seven weeks.”
Abigail is the youngest American hostage held by Hamas, and her family is hoping she returns home by Friday, her fourth birthday.
“We won’t be able to believe it until Abigail emerges,” Naftali continued.
In a statement released in Washington on Tuesday night, US President Joe Biden praised the agreement and stated that it “should bring home additional American hostages.” “I will not stop until they are all released,” he vowed.
Also Read: Assessing the Impact of Conflict on Gaza: Uncovering the Devastation
According to senior US officials, three Americans may be among the fifty women and children set free as a result of the agreement. A senior administration official stated that ten Americans are still missing, including two women and a three-year-old girl. The girl’s name was withheld by the official.
Additionally, a US official stated that the hostages would be released at “multiple locations,” but he would not elaborate.
According to IDF spokesman Conricus, every hostage on the list set for release under the agreement is an Israeli, some of whom hold dual nationality. The Palestinian detainees who are scheduled for release, he continued, “are not serious offenders.”
Israel made public a list of 300 prisoners on Wednesday who could be freed, raising the prospect of a follow-up prisoner-for-hostage exchange following the initial four-day period.
While some are as young as 14, the great majority of Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release in exchange for Israeli hostages are male teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18, who are considered children by the UN. There are about 33 women.
The charges that the detainees are facing are included in the list of names that Israel released. The most frequent ones are “harming regional security” and throwing stones, but there are also other ones like incitement, charges of using illegal weapons, support for terrorist groups that are not authorized, and at least two murder attempt accusations.
The process of filing legal petitions against the release of Palestinian prisoners to Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to commence upon the publication of the list and last for 24 hours.
Qadura Fares, the leader of the non-governmental Palestinian Prisoners Club, estimated that there are about 8,300 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
Of the 8,300, over 3,000 are being detained in “administrative detention,” a term that Israel defines and that Amnesty International claims can be prolonged indefinitely.
For weeks, humanitarian organizations have demanded that fuel be permitted into Gaza, citing its necessity for food preparation and hospital operations. These facilities have struggled to care for patients, including newborn infants, amidst power outages, shortages of supplies, and bombardment.
International organizations and governments everywhere have also intensified their demands for more aid to be delivered to the beleaguered enclave.
