Israel Reaches Deal with Hamas Terrorists to Release Hostages in Exchange for Ceasefire
In an unprecedented vote early on Wednesday morning, the Israeli Cabinet of Ministers approved an agreement with Hamas terrorists to release about 50 hostages who were abducted during the 7 October terrorist attack in exchange for a ceasefire. This was reported by The Times of Israel.
Not all the details of the deal have been officially released, but an Israeli government spokesman said during a briefing for journalists on Tuesday that the agreement provides for the release of 50 living Israeli citizens, mostly women and children, in groups of 12-13 people a day.
In exchange, Israel agreed to a ceasefire for at least four days for the first time since the start of the war.
In addition, Israel has to release about 150 (there are no exact figures yet) Palestinian prisoners, including women and minors, from prisons.
Also, during the ceasefire, trucks with humanitarian aid and fuel are allowed into the Gaza Strip (it was reported that there will be 300 of them).
The first hostages may be released as early as Thursday.
On 20 November, the White House reported that negotiations on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip had reached a "delicate stage".
Earlier, the Western media reported that Israel, the United States and the Hamas terrorist group had previously reached an agreement on a 5-day ceasefire and the release of hostages. However, the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that any such agreement had been reached.
As The Gaze previously reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the shift in focus to the war between Israel and Hamas had slowed the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine. This slows down the military effort as the counter-offensive against Russia "comes to a standstill".
On the morning of 7 October, the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The militants broke through into the country, simultaneously launching a massive missile attack. The invasion was accompanied by mass killings of civilians. As a result of this attack, many Israelis were killed, and hundreds of people were taken hostage by the militants. Israel officially declared a state of war and mobilised hundreds of thousands of reservists to respond to the terrorist attack and Hamas invasion, and began to destroy Hamas military facilities.
The EU and other Western countries consider Hamas a terrorist organization.