A person stands in front of a photo during a demonstration demanding the release of hostages captured by Hamas militants on October 7 and held in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 21.Amir Cohen/Reuters
Israel and Hamas reach an agreement to halt their devastating war in Gaza for four days and release dozens of hostages held by the extremist group in return for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The mediator announced Wednesday.
Egypt’s state-run Kahera TV announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will take effect at 10 a.m. local time (8 p.m. Japan time) on Thursday.
Egypt helped broker a four-day ceasefire that will facilitate the release of dozens of hostages captured during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The deal would also see the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israeli media also reported that the ceasefire would begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The ceasefire comes as Hamas’s rampage into southern Israel on October 7 sparked a war that destroyed vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge in violence in the occupied West Bank, and sparked a broader wave across the Middle East. It is the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the United States sparked fears of conflict.
Qatar, a Persian Gulf state that has played a key role in mediating with Hamas, announced the agreement without saying when it would come into force. Fifty hostages will be released in stages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners announced by Hamas.
Both sides will first release women and children and ramp up the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would resume the war after the ceasefire and continue fighting “until we achieve all our goals,” including the defeat of Hamas and the return of all hostages.
Fighting in Gaza City intensified overnight into Wednesday, with gunfire and heavy artillery airstrikes hitting central areas, Gaza residents said.
“They are angry. Apparently they want to move forward before the ceasefire,” said Nasser al-Sheikh, who is evacuated with relatives in Sheikh Radwan district.
The announcement ended weeks of indirect negotiations led by Qatar. The U.S. and Egypt also hold about 240 hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups in a dispute between Israel and the Islamic extremist group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007. Participated in moratorium negotiations to release some of the During widespread attacks on October 7th.
President Joe Biden welcomed the agreement and said Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged to support a “long-term suspension” to ensure the release of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Qatari Prime Minister and Top Diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the deal would eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire and “serious talks” towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said he was looking forward to it.
Israel announced it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was standing by to assist in any exchange.
Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release as part of the deal, mostly teenagers detained over the past year for stone-throwing and other minor crimes. Under Israeli law, citizens can object to any release within 24 hours.
The Israeli military has announced it has detained more than 1,850 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began, most of them suspected Hamas members. More than 200 Palestinians were killed there, most of them in gunfire during military raids.
Canada’s Department of International Affairs said one Canadian was missing, but did not confirm whether the person was being held hostage, and the U.S. government hinted at that possibility in a statement over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly expressed hope that the deal would allow all foreign nationals in Gaza to leave the fighting zone, including the approximately 200 Canadians still in the country.
There were no Canadians on the list of foreigners approved to enter Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday.
What “ceasefire” and “humanitarian moratorium” mean in the Israel-Hamas war
Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinian families held by Hamas in Gaza, saying the conflict has gone beyond war and has become “terrorism.”
Francis, who gave unscripted remarks during a general audience in St. Peter’s Square shortly after the meeting in his official residence, said he had heard firsthand “how much both sides are suffering” in the conflict.
“This is what war is all about. But here we are beyond war. This is not war. This is terrorism,” he said.
He asked for prayers for both sides “not to fall into a passion that ultimately kills everyone.”
A group of Palestinians in the audience held up placards with pictures of bodies wrapped in white cloth and the words “Nakba continues.”
Nakba means disaster in Arabic and refers to the expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 war over the creation of the state of Israel.
Parent family groups are scheduled to hold separate press conferences later Wednesday.
A Palestinian boy displays a painting excavated from the rubble of a building at the site of Israeli shelling in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 22.Mohamed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
A brief history of centuries of war in Gaza
As the full extent of the devastation becomes clearer and hostages are freed, pressure may mount on Israel to end the war without achieving its goal of crushing Hamas. Even the United States, Israel’s main backer, has expressed concern about the heavy toll on civilians in Gaza.
A nighttime airstrike hit a house in the southern town of Khan Younis, killing 17 people, including children, said Ahmad Barony, a relative of the deceased. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies of two children pulled from the rubble, one with severe burns.
In northern Gaza, heavy fighting left around 60 bodies and 200 wounded overnight at Kamal Adwan Hospital, hospital director Dr. Ahmed al-Qalut told Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday. The hospital uses cooking oil to run generators, he said.
Despite massive destruction across Gaza and the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians, Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar is seen by most Palestinians as a hero for resisting the occupation. They will present the release of prisoners of war as a major accomplishment, and declare victory if the war ends without any action taken. Remove Hamas from power.
Hamas said hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies, including fuel, would be allowed into Gaza. Israeli aircraft will stop flying over southern Gaza during the four-day cease-fire, and will suspend flights in the north for six hours each day, it said.
The war broke out in early October, when thousands of Hamas militants broke through Israel’s formidable defenses and poured into the south, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking dozens more prisoner. I made it. Israel responded with weeks of devastating airstrikes and a subsequent ground invasion of Gaza.
More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the Hamas-controlled area’s health ministry. Approximately two-thirds of the dead were found to be women and minors, but no distinction was made between civilians and militants.
The invasion caused massive destruction in northern Gaza, including Gaza City, displacing more than 1.7 million people and causing severe shortages of food, medicine and other necessities across the territory. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing a territory-wide power outage.
A man rides a bicycle near a mural depicting hostages in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 22.Amir Levi/Getty Images
Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know about attacks, casualties, hostages, and response
The return of the hostages could lift the spirits of beleaguered Israel. Families of the hostages, including infants and young children, women and children, and people in their 80s with health problems, have staged large demonstrations to pressure the government to return them.
But they could also split themselves, with some hostages freed and others remaining in Gaza. The soldiers are likely to be the last to be released, and their families may pressure the government to extend the truce until they return home.
Ofri Vivas Levi, whose brother, sister-in-law and two nephews, aged 4 and 10 months, are also among the prisoners, said the deal left his family in “inhumane” conditions. He said he was there. Her brother, 34, is not expected to be among the first group to be released.
“Who will be released and who will not be released? Will the children be released? Will they be released with their mother or will they not be released?” she told The Associated Press before the deal was announced. “No matter how it happened, there will be families who will continue to be worried, sad and angry.”
The war between Israel and Hamas: maps and graphics showing how the conflict is unfolding
The structure of the agreement could limit Israel’s ability to continue attacks even after the ceasefire expires.
A pause would give Hamas a chance to rally after suffering heavy losses, especially if the situation drags on with the release of additional hostages. Israeli troops and tanks are expected to remain in place despite the risk of remaining stationary behind enemy lines.
Israel claims to have killed thousands of Hamas fighters and destroyed part of the group’s tunnel system. However, Israeli authorities acknowledge that much of Hamas’ infrastructure remains intact. The military announced that 68 soldiers were killed in ground operations.
About three-quarters of Gaza’s population has been forced to flee their homes, with most crammed into overcrowded evacuation centers. Due to the severe damage in the north and the continued presence of Israeli troops, many, if not most, will not be able to return home.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah engages in daily gun battles with Israel along the border, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch drones and missiles, seize Israeli-linked cargo ships, and other attacks across the Middle East. Iranian-backed armed groups are involved in the war.
