The Israeli government gave the green light on Wednesday to an agreement aimed at obtaining the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas.
The Israeli government gave the green light Wednesday to a deal to secure the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a four-day truce in the Gaza Strip, the first tangible sign of respite from weeks of war.
“The government approved the outline of the first stage of an agreement under which at least 50 abductees – women and children – will be released for four days during which there will be a lull in the fighting”according to a statement in Hebrew from the government sent to AFP.
The agreement to release hostages is “the right decision” to take, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Tuesday evening before the start of his cabinet meeting which continued early Wednesday with this green light.
Around 240 people were kidnapped during the bloody attack launched on October 7 against Israel by the Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, whose leader Ismaïl Haniyeh had reported progress in the talks, welcomed an agreement “humanitarian truce”specifying that the “The provisions of this agreement were formulated in accordance with the vision of the resistance.”
After declarations from the Israeli government and Hamas, the authorities of Qatar, the Gulf emirate at the center of the truce talks, confirmed an agreement for a “humanitarian break” in the Gaza Strip.
“The start of this break will be announced in the next 24 hours and will last four days, with the possibility of extension”declared on X the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcoming the “success” of its joint mediation with Egypt and the United States.
Doha has been working for weeks with Washington and Cairo to obtain the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for that of Palestinian prisoners and a truce in the fighting.
10 hostages against 30 prisoners from Thursday?
The United States expects that “more than 50” hostages be released by Hamas in Gaza following a truce agreement announced with Israel, a senior White House official said, specifying that three American nationals were among the hostages to be released.
US President Joe Biden declared “extraordinarily satisfied”. Russia also welcomed the deal. “This is exactly what Russia called for from the start of the escalation of the conflict”underlined the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova.
A senior Hamas official told AFP he expected “that a first exchange of 10 hostages for 30 prisoners be carried out on Thursday” and that this “truce can be extended”.
After 50 hostages freed, “the release of ten additional hostages will lead to an additional day of break” in the fighting, the Israeli government said.
Continuation of the war
This truce agreement does not mean the end of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Tuesday evening, saying he wanted a resumption in “full force” operations after the truce in order to “to do” Hamas and “create the conditions necessary to bring home other hostages.”
“The Israeli government, Israeli army and security forces will continue the war to return all abductees, eliminate Hamas and ensure that there is no further threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”the government confirmed after its vote.
“We confirm that our hands will remain on the trigger and that our triumphant battalions will remain on the lookout”warned Hamas for its part.
International organizations and many foreign capitals are increasing calls for a ceasefire or truce in the face of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the small besieged territory, where the war has destroyed entire neighborhoods, devastated the health system and resulted in massive population movements.
Health “tragedy”
A “tragedy” health crisis is looming in the Gaza Strip, where water “sorely missing” and the fuel shortage risks causing “the collapse of sanitation services”the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned again on Tuesday.
In Israel, 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians, were killed, according to the authorities, in the Hamas attack of October 7, of a scale and violence unprecedented in the history of the country.
In retaliation, Israel promised “to annihilate” the Islamist movement and relentlessly shells the Gaza Strip, where its army has been leading a ground offensive since October 27 against Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.
In the Palestinian territory, more than 14,000 people were killed in Israeli bombings, including more than 5,800 children, according to the Hamas government.
According to the UN, nearly 1.7 million of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip, subject since October 9 by Israel to a “total siege”. Humanitarian aid, the entry of which is subject to the green light from Israel, arrives in dribs and drabs via Egypt, in insufficient quantities, according to the UN.