Israel and Hamas Reach Deal to Pause Fighting, Free at Least 50 Hostages

An agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas to release at least 50 women and children currently being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a brief pause in fighting and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners.

The deal was approved by Israel’s Cabinet during a tense, six-hour late-night session, according to Israeli media, and announced late Tuesday by the foreign ministry of Qatar, which had been, along with Egypt and the U.S., mediating negotiations for weeks. Hostages could start to be released as soon as Thursday, barring an Israeli Supreme Court challenge, which is not expected.

Not all details of the truce are yet publicized, but a statement by the Israeli government said that 50 hostages will be released over four days, during which there will be a “lull in fighting,” and that “the release of every 10 additional abductees will result in an additional day of respite.”

A senior Israeli official told Haaretz that Hamas will release 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 other women, all of whom are Israeli. Additional foreign nationals may be released as well, the official said, pending negotiations with other countries. A U.S. senior administration official briefing the media earlier on Tuesday said that three Americans may be released, including two women and a child named Abigail who turns four this month. “Today’s deal will bring home more American hostages,” U.S. President Joe Biden posted on X.

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Israel, in turn, will free 150 detained Palestinian women and children, according to a statement released on Telegram by Hamas. The group added that Israel will stop air traffic in the south for the four days of ceasefire, while air traffic in the north will cease for six hours daily, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

As part of the deal, Axios reported, Israel will also allow around 300 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily from Egypt, including the delivery of fuel during the pause. Israel has until now largely objected to the entry of fuel into Gaza out of concern that Hamas may seize it for military use. Israeli forces will remain in Gaza throughout any pause, not engaging in combat but “ready to act at any moment required,” according to Channel 12.

Before the Cabinet meeting, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized in a speech that, while there will be a pause in fighting, this does not mean an end to the war. “We will continue the war until we achieve all of our war aims: To eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and our missing, and ensure that there is no element in Gaza that threatens Israel,” he said. “We will not relent until we achieve the absolute victory.”

Hamas also stated: “At a time when we announce the reach of the armistice agreement, we confirm that our hands will remain on the trigger, and our triumphant battalions will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defeat the occupation and aggression,” promising to “establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

During Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and over 200 taken hostage. In the weeks since, Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed more than 14,000 Palestinians, per the enclave’s health ministry, in what U.N. experts have called “a genocide in the making.”

Israel has faced division over what concessions should be made in order to secure the hostages’ release. Hamas previously freed four hostages in October: two Americans, mother-and-daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, and two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz. While the Israeli government previously rejected international calls for a ceasefire, saying one would only be granted with the release of all hostages, relatives of hostages have advocated for an “all for all” deal in which all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which are estimated to number in the thousands, would be released in exchange for all hostages captured on Oct. 7.