Matty STERN / U.S. Embassy Jerusalem, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Israel has finally agreed to a cease-fire deal that will see 50 hostages return from Gaza to Israel tomorrow.
The four-day truce with Hamas begins tomorrow, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen who addressed the media today.
In the deal 50 women and children kidnapped by Hamas gunmen on October 7 will be freed.
Now, a Hamas official has also claimed that the same deal will be repeated later this month, which would mean 100 people out of the roughly 240 held by the terror group could be released from Gaza before the beginning of December.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said in return Israel would free 300 Palestinian prisoners across the two exchanges – or 150 prisoners for each group of 50 hostages. Israel is yet to comment on the second deal.
The process of recovering the first group of hostages is expected to start tomorrow at 10am (8am GMT), according to Egyptian media reports. Some have suggested it could happen even earlier at 7am local time. Israel is yet to confirm the time.
Hamas terrorists are set to provide Israel with a list on Wednesday night of ten hostages set to be released tomorrow via the Red Cross, reports Israel National News. On Friday and Saturday, ten hostages will be released each day, while a further 20 will be released on Sunday – the last day of the ceasefire, according to reports.
But anguished relatives of the hostages fear that Hamas cannot be trusted, with one exhausted family member saying the terrorists will ‘do everything they can to ruin the deal’.
Yosi Shnaider, whose cousin Shiri, 30, was abducted with her four-year-old son Ariel and ten-month-old son Kfir, told the BBC he was concerned the deal might not go ahead. ‘I try to be realistic and I know who we’re dealing with. They will do everything they can to ruin even this deal and I’m scared,’ he said.
And Israeli politician Ben Gvir said the release of the hostages sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ that could play into the hands of the terrorists. The far-right politician said the deal, which will see 150 Palestinians released in exchange for 50 hostages, gives Hamas terrorists everything they wanted.
‘Hamas wanted this truce more than anything,’ Gvir said on Twitter. ‘It also wanted to get ‘rid’ of the women and children in the first stage, because they caused international pressure on it. It wanted to get, in exchange, fuel, the release of terrorists, halting IDF action and even a [reconnaissance] flight ban. It got all of those.’
He also slammed the deal for not securing the release of all hostages held in Gaza, branding it ‘immoral, illogical and very far from enough’ while saying it ‘could and should have been different’.
Yet some of the families of the kidnapped women and children say they are ‘very happy’ with the deal, as they wait in anguish to find out who out of their loved ones will be returning home.
After weeks of Qatar and US-brokered negotiations, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet approved the truce accord at the end of an almost all-night meeting, with the premier telling ministers this was a ‘difficult decision but it’s a right decision’.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas is to free 50 women and children of the around 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over four days – extended by an additional day for every 10 hostages released, the Israeli government said.
In return, Israel will free 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails and allow 300 aid trucks into Gaza every day of the ceasefire to get much-needed aid to civilians trapped there.
There are at least 35 children among the hostages, 18 of them aged 10 and under, according to an AFP count, as well as more than 50 women.
Credit: Scott Bobb
It was not immediately clear exactly who will be released from Gaza. Among those waiting for news will be London-based father Thomas Hand, whose nine-year-old Irish-Israeli daughter Emily is among those being held inside the territory.
Mr Hand, who has been petitioning the Israeli government to orchestrate her release, will be hoping and praying that she is among the group of 50.
‘We don’t know who will get out because Hamas will release the names every evening of those who will get out the next day,’ said Gilad Korngold, whose eight-year-old grandson Naveh and granddaughter Yahel, three, are among seven family members held captive.
‘Until I see them with my own eyes, I won’t believe what anyone says.’
Meanwhile, the UK government has said it believes three British nationals are still being held hostage in Gaza. No information has been given on whether they could be among those released.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hailed the deal as a ‘a crucial step towards providing relief to the families of the hostages and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.’
Netanyahu said Israel would resume its offensive to destroy Hamas after the cease-fire expires. He said in a statement: ‘There is a lot of nonsense out there to the effect that after the pause to return our hostages, we will stop the war.
‘Then let me make it clear: We are at war – and will continue the war. We will continue the war until we achieve all of our war aims,’ he said.
‘To eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and our missing, and ensure that there is no element in Gaza that threatens Israel.’
His warning came after Hamas said that while it had agreed to the temporary ceasefire deal, ‘our hands will remain on the trigger and our victorious battalions will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defend the occupation’.
Here are the key elements of the deal:
A four-day pause in fighting
During that time, 50 women and children will be released by Hamas
For each additional 10 hostages released, pause will extend by a day
In exchange, 150 Palestinian women and people under the age of 19 will be released from Israeli prisons
Israel will allow humanitarian aid to enter all areas of Gaza in the form of 300 trucks a day, bringing in food, medicine and fuel
Israel will stop aerial surveillance in the south of Gaza for four days
It will also stop aerial surveillance in the northern Gaza Strip from 10 am to 4 pm for four days
Israel has committed to not attack or arrest anyone in all areas of Gaza during the four-day truce
