Early this morning, the Israeli Cabinet accepted an agreement with Hamas to release 50 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire in an unprecedented vote.
How reports The Times of Israel, the first stage of the agreement is the release of 30 children and 8 mothers, as well as 12 elderly women. Israel pledged to maintain a ceasefire in Gaza for 4 days. Hamas will receive four days of respite, during which it will try to find other Israeli mothers and children being held elsewhere.
Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners serving sentences in prison – minors and women convicted of crimes other than murder. According to the agreement, the publication writes, for the release of each additional hostage over fifty, Hamas will receive three more prisoners, and for every ten – one additional day of ceasefire.
Hamas says it knows for sure the whereabouts of only thirty children and eight mothers and will use the ceasefire to find the rest. The Times of Israel recalls that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are holding 195 Israelis, of whom about 50 are mothers and children. Among the hostages are 41 foreign workers who are not included in the exchange deal.
Israel will receive a list of those released every evening for the next day. It is expected that approximately 12 people will be released in the first days of the ceasefire. If Hamas does not comply with the terms of the agreement, Israel will resume hostilities with renewed vigor so that Hamas “pays a high price for any violation.”
Regarding the Palestinian prisoners, the decision has been made to return the released terrorists to their families, whether in Judea and Samaria or the Gaza Strip. According to political sources in Israel, the release of even 80 hostages by Hamas is quite possible. The government is preliminarily authorizing the release of about 300 prisoners from prison in order to be ready for the release of up to 100 hostages.
Sources say the agreement will oblige Israel to cease air operations over the Gaza Strip for six hours a day while the ceasefire is in effect. This should allow Hamas to locate dozens of hostages.
Earlier, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, expressed optimism at a meeting with soldiers of the 8101st Reserve Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade about the deal to release the hostages. writes Israel News: “We are making progress. I hope we will hear good news soon.”
He noted that the destruction of Hamas remains the army’s top priority. The second task is the release of the hostages, and the third, according to the prime minister, is to prevent a situation similar to the one that existed on October 7.
During the truce, trucks with humanitarian aid and fuel are allowed into the Gaza Strip (it was reported that there will be 300 of them).
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