Israel and Hamas agree to brief ceasefire for hostage release and Gaza relief

The Israeli government and Hamas have agreed to uphold a brief ceasefire in Gaza to allow for the release of 50 hostages captured during Hamas’s terror attack last month in Israel, and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The ceasefire’s start will be announced within the next 24 hours and will last for at least four days, said Qatar, which is the lead mediator.

The pause in the fighting, however brief, could bring some measure of relief to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. More than one million Gazans have been displaced, and civilians are running perilously low on basic human necessities like food and water. As part of its offensive against Hamas, Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza and blocked the delivery of most fuel, saying it could be diverted for the armed group’s use.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced its decision in a WhatsApp message, saying it would allow for a pause of at least four days in the fighting in Gaza, making it the longest halt in hostilities Israel began its bombardment and subsequent ground invasion of Gaza.

Women and children would be among the hostages released, and that, “the release of every 10 additional hostages will result in an additional day in the pause.”

“The Israeli government is committed to bringing all the hostages home,” the government added.

Hamas later announced in a statement on Telegram that it had agreed to a four-day ceasefire that would allow for 50 hostages to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. “After many days of difficult and complex negotiations, we announce, with the help and blessing of God, that we have reached a humanitarian truce,” the Hamas statement read.

Hostages probably will not be released until Thursday at the earliest, to allow time for Israeli judges to review potential legal challenges to the prisoner release, according to Israeli officials.

Mohammed Al Khulaifi, the Qatari state minister who was a main negotiator on the talks, urged both sides to meet their obligations under the agreement and said he hoped it would pave the way for an end to the war. “This agreement is the first time both sides have agreed to support the diplomatic track over continued fighting, which has inflicted so much pain and suffering on innocent civilians.”

Hamas however still said its hand “remain on the trigger”.

“Our triumphant brigades will remain on the lookout to defend our people and to defeat the occupation and aggression,” Hamas added in its statement.

Hamas and its allies in Gaza captured about 240 hostages during their raid on southern Israel on 7 October, which also killed an estimated 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Israel responded with thousands of airstrikes and by invading Gaza with ground forces, killing roughly 13,000 people in the fighting, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating indirectly for weeks over the roughly 240 hostages taken to Gaza in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel. A deal had seemed within reach on a few occasions only for the negotiations to stall or fall apart.

Netanyahu said earlier on Tuesday night that Israel’s campaign to prevent Hamas from controlling any part of Gaza would continue after the ceasefire. “We are at war, and we’ll continue this war until we meet all our objectives: dismantling Hamas, returning our hostages, and ensuring that in Gaza there will be no one that threatens Israel.”