After more than a month and a half of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the Islamist group Hamas have reached an agreement for an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, which will be accompanied by a ceasefire of at least four days, which will give a respite to the civilian population of the devastated enclave. However, the agreement does not mean the end of the war, as both sides have stressed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted last night that the fighting will not stop until Hamas’s military capabilities have been “completely destroyed.” For its part, the group stressed that the truce allows for “relief and the opportunity to heal the wounds of the Strip,” but that it “consolidates the will of the resistance” to continue fighting against the “Zionist enemy.” These are the keys to the pact, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, to which both the Israeli Government and the Hamas leadership gave the green light this morning:

  • The agreement is expected to come into force tomorrow, Thursday, after giving a margin of 24 hours mandatory under Israeli law for possible appeals to the Supreme Court.
  • In a first phase, Hamas will hand over at least 50 hostages, almost all women and children, of the more than 240 it kidnapped on October 7.
  • For its part, Israel will release a first batch of 150 Palestinian prisoners who have not been convicted of blood crimes, and among whom priority will also be given to women and minors.
  • The agreement contemplates a ceasefire of at least four days, which may be extended to a maximum of ten, in which the fighting will be completely paused.
  • The release of hostages – most of them Israeli nationals, but among whom there are also foreigners – will be done in four batches: twelve kidnapped people will be released each day of the four days that the truce will last.
  • The hostages will leave through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, from where they will be transferred to Israel.
  • Israel will release 150 Palestinians once the first 50 hostages have arrived in Israel.
  • If the first phase of the agreement goes ahead without setbacks, the truce could be extended for a maximum of 10 days so that Hamas can release up to 100 live hostages, in exchange for the release of up to 300 Palestinian prisoners.
  • The proportion agreed for the exchange will always be one hostage for every three prisoners and Israel already published this morning the list with the 300 names of Palestinian prisoners who may be released if the agreement is applied in its entirety.
  • The agreement also contemplates the entry into the Strip, including the northern part, of between 100 and 300 trucks with food and medical aid, as well as fuel.
  • The Red Cross will be able to visit the hostages of the Palestinian militias in the Strip and will provide them with medical care
  • The Israeli Army undertakes not to fly over the enclave with drones and planes for six hours a day while the truce is in force to allow Hamas to locate hostages held by other armed groups, such as the Islamic Jihad, which also supported the agreement.
  • Among those kidnapped, no soldiers or men will be released, nor will the bodies of deceased hostages be recovered. However, elderly men and hostages with foreign nationality could be exchanged.
  • Of the more than 240 people that Israel kidnapped on October 7, four women were released in the first weeks of the war, for “humanitarian reasons” according to Hamas – an American mother and daughter, and two elderly Israeli women; a soldier was rescued by the Army; and the bodies of two kidnapped women, a 19-year-old soldier and a 65-year-old woman, have been found inside the Strip.