Israel and Hamas announced this Wednesday an agreement for the release of at least 50 hostages held by the Islamist movement in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a four-day truce in the Gaza Strip after weeks of war and siege.
“The government approved the broad outlines of the first stage of an agreement according to which at least 50 kidnapped people (women and children) will be released for four days during which there will be a respite in the fighting”Israel reported.
After weeks of negotiations mediated by Qatar, the government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuaccepted the agreement after a meeting that lasted almost all night on Tuesday.
Qatar confirmed the agreement for a “humanitarian pause”whose beginning “It will be announced in the next 24 hours and will last four days, with the possibility of extending it.”
According to regional media, the truce will begin on Thursday at 08:00 GMT.
Netanyahu stated that accepting the deal was “a complicated decision, but it is a correct decision.”
His cabinet was under pressure from the families of the nearly 240 hostages taken by the Islamist group Hamas during the October 7 attack in Israel, which left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
“We are very happy”, Israel’s main association of families of Hamas abductees, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, said in a statement. “At the moment we do not know exactly who will be released or when.”
Since the October 7 attack, Israel launched an offensive against Loop which, according to Hamas, has left more than 14,000 dead in this Palestinian territory.
“Extraordinarily satisfied”
Two sources on both sides indicated that the agreement includes the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The Israeli government specified that its armed forces “They will continue the war to return all the kidnapped people, eliminate Hamas and ensure that there is no threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”
Hamas celebrated in a statement the agreement “humanitarian truce” and assured that its provisions were “formulated in accordance with the vision of resistance”, but he maintained a defiant tone. “We confirm that our fingers will continue to be on the triggers.”
On both sides, the beneficiaries are women and children, Hamas said.
An official of the White House He declared that among those released there will be three Americans, including a three-year-old girl.
The American president, Joe Biden, stated that he was “extraordinarily satisfied.”
The agreement was celebrated by great powers such as Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Egypt, which participated in the talks, called the negotiation “a success” and Turkey said it hopes it will help “end the conflict.”
The secretary general of the UNAntonio Guterres, celebrated the agreement as “a step in the right direction”but stated that “There is much to do”a spokesperson said in a statement.
The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, also welcomed the agreement but reiterated its call for “a complete cessation of Israel’s aggression”, declared senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh on the social network X.
A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry detailed the modalities of the pact. “Each day a number of hostages will be released (…) until reaching 50 on the fourth day” of truce, said Majed Al Ansari.
A senior Hamas official said there could be “a first exchange of 10 hostages against 30 prisoners on Thursday.”
Israel published a list of 300 Palestinian prisoners who will be considered, without specifying who will be released.
“We don’t know who will be released first, and that is a problem for us when it comes to informing families,” said Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Defense Group.
On the list of Palestinian prisoners is Shrouq Dwayat, convicted of attempted murder in a knife attack in 2015.
Her mother, Sameera Dwayat, said she has “mixed feelings”, even though he hoped his daughter would be released in an exchange. Have “a great pain in the heart” for the children killed in Gaza, he said.
After this first phase, other exchanges could take place during an extension of the truce, for the release of a total of 100 hostages against that of 300 prisoners. Palestiniansaccording to Israel.
A true “tragedy”
The agreement represents a respite for the population of Gaza, subjected to a “total siege” by Israel, which blocks supplies of food, water, electricity and medicine.
The UN estimates that the war displaced almost 1.7 of the Strip’s 2.4 million inhabitants.
A truly “tragedy” health is emerging in the Palestinian territory, warned Unicef.
“If they reach a five-day truce now, I think it will pave the way for longer truces or even a complete ceasefire,” said hopeful Hamza Abdel Razeq, a resident of Rafah, in the south of the Strip.
“People are really suffering,” he pointed.
“A war against hospitals”
Israel appeared to continue its operations in northern Gaza on Wednesday, with several witnesses saying there was dawn shelling in the area of the Kamal Adwan hospital.
Medical staff treated bloodied and dust-covered survivors, and in the streets, other area residents fled through the rubble.
The Islamist movement accuses Israel of freeing “a war against hospitals” in Gaza.
Israeli authorities argue that Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes and uses civilians as “human shields”, something that the Palestinian movement denies.
The Israeli army said it had intercepted a cruise missile launched towards the south of the country on Wednesday.
Source: Gestion
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