Jerusalem, 22nd Nov: Israeli Cabinet has approved a ceasefire with Hamas that includes the release of some 50 hostages held by militants, according to an official statement released on Wednesday.
This comes after a ‘near-all-night meeting’ where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that accepting a deal for the release of hostages taken in the Hamas attacks of October 7 was “a difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.
“The Israeli government is committed to bringing all the abductees home. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal, under which at least 50 abductees – women and children – will be released over a span of four days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting,” the statement said. “The release of every ten additional abductees will result in an additional day of respite,” it added.
Hamas has welcomed a “humanitarian truce” approved by Israel that provides for the freeing of hostages held by the group in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. “The provisions of this agreement were formulated according to the vision of the resistance and its determinants that aim to serve our people and enhance their steadfastness in the face of aggression,” a Hamas statement said.
Notably, the statement does not offer details regarding possible concessions Israel is believed to have made, including the release of Palestinian prisoners and the entry of additional fuel and aid into Gaza. Before the vote on the deal, Netanyahu told his cabinet on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden had helped “improve the framework being laid out before you… to include more hostages at a lower price”. “The entire security establishment fully supports it.”
The hostages’ families have demanded that Israel should insist on the return of all those being held, and the Religious Zionist party, which is part of Netanyahu’s coalition government, has voiced opposition to the deal, denouncing it as “bad” for Israel’s security, for the hostages and soldiers. “Yesterday evening, I met, together with the members of the War Cabinet, members of the hostages’ families. I listened closely to their plight. With shaking voices, sometimes in tears, they described the nightmare they are in,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Multiple news agencies said the tentative agreement would include a five-day truce, comprised of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily. Under the deal, between 50 and 100 Israeli and dual-national civilians would be released in exchange for some 300 Palestinian women and children currently held in Israeli jails. “It will allow the IDF to prepare for a continuation of the fight – the war is ongoing, and it will continue until we achieve all of our objectives: destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages,” Netanyahu said.
The war erupted on October 7 when Hamas militants burst across the border into Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. Most of the dead were civilians, while the hostages included small children, women and older people. Israel responded with weeks of blistering airstrikes on Gaza, followed by a ground invasion that began over three weeks ago. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli offensive, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The invasion has caused vast destruction in northern Gaza and caused a humanitarian crisis.
