■Deal mediated by Qatar, Egypt and US
■ The release of every 10 additional abductees will result in a day more of respite
By Harinder Mishra
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL and Hamas agreed on
Wednesday to a temporary
four-day ceasefire to allow the
release of 50 hostages held by
the militant group in Gaza in
exchange for 150 Palestinian
detainees and the entry of
humanitarian aid into the
besieged territory.
The deal, once implemented, will be the first major diplomatic breakthrough and pause
in fighting since the war began
after Hamas attacked Israel on
October 7.
The announcement comes
amid a strong assertion from
Israeli Prime
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu
that the “war
will continue
until all our
goals are achieved”.
Following a marathon six-hourmeeting inTel Aviv that
ended in the early hours of
Wednesday morning, the
Israeli Cabinet approved a
deal media ted by Qatar,Egypt
and the United States by a35-
3 vote with ministers from the
extreme right-wing Otzma
Yehudit party of National
Security Minister It a mar Ben
Gvir voting against.
The Cabinet meeting was
preceded by the meetings of
the War Cabinet and the
Security Cabinet.
A PMO statement saidthat
50 women and child ren held
hostage in Gaza will be
released over four days during which there will be a
pause in fighting. For every
additional 10 hostages
released,the pause would be
extended by another day, it
said,without mentioning the
release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
“The Israeli Government
is committed to the return of
all abductees home”, a statement on behalf of the
Government said. “Tonight,
the Government approved
the outline for the first stage
of achieving this goal,according to which at least 50
abductees — women and
children — will be released
for four days, during which
there will bealull in the fighting.
The release of every 10
additional abductees will
resultin an additional day of
respite,” it added.
The implementation of the
deal cannot start until about
24 hours after final approval
as Israeli law gives the public a day to appeal against
the agreement in the
Supreme Court.
Local media speculated
thatthe first exchange could
already happen on Thursday
morning.
Israel has released a list of
300 Palestinians that could be
released under the deal
struck between Israel and
Hamas.
The list, posted on Israel’s
Justice Ministry website,
includes the names,agesand
offences of those eligible.
Only 150 detainees are
expected to be released at
first.
Qatar, whose capital Doha
serves as the headquarters
for Hamas, confirmed that
an agreement for a temporary ceasefire betweenIsrael
and Hamas has been reached
and the start time will be
announced in the next 24
hours.