The government of Israel accepted this Tuesday the agreement with the Islamist group Hamas for the release of 50 kidnapped in the Strip Loopin exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a four-day truce.
Hours before the announcement, Hamas I had already anticipated that “the ball” was “in the field of Israel” after the group reported its position on the agreement to mediators of Qatar and Egypt.
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All members of the prime minister’s executive Benjamin Netanyahu voted in favor of the exchange and the truce except the three ministers of the Jewish Power Party (Otzma Yehudit), of the far-right and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.
In the absence of the terms of the agreement being known, which Qatar is expected to announce in the next few hours, information leaked to Israeli media indicates that the pact includes the release of a minimum of 50 hostages, mostly children and their mothers, with the possibility that the number will expand to 80, in addition to a ceasefire of at least four days, which could be extended for several more days.
Hamas will take the hostages to Egypt through the crossing Rafah in daily groups of about ten and, from there, they will be transferred to Israel.
For its part, Israel must release about 150 Palestinian prisonersalso mostly women and minors who are not convicted of blood crimes.
Furthermore, the Army undertakes not to fly over the Gaza Strip for six hours a day while the truce is in effect to allow Hamas to locate hostages held by other armed groups, such as the Islamic Jihad.
According to some estimates, Hamas is holding between 210 and 240 hostages, while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad keeps power down to about 30.
The agreement would also include, according to the Hebrew press, the entry into the Strip, including the northern part, of 100 to 300 trucks with food and medical aid, as well as fuel.
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Likewise, according to Israeli public television, the temporary cessation of hostilities will begin on Thursday to give 24 hours for the presentation of possible appeals to the government decision before the Supreme Court.
No soldiers or men will be released nor will the bodies of deceased hostages be recovered. However, the media stated that they could exchange elderly men and hostages with foreign nationality.
Another point highlighted by the Israeli press is that Hamas must provide the names of the people who will be released one day in advance.
Netanyahu assured before the government meeting that the agreement includes that the Red Cross He will visit the kidnapped and offer them medical help.
Before his Cabinet discussions, the prime minister assured that accepting this agreement, which according to Hamas has been under discussion for a month, “It’s a difficult decision, but it’s the right decision.”.
However, Netanyahu warned that this truce does not mean the end of the offensive, which has caused more than 14,000 deaths, of which more than 5,000 are children.
“Many nonsense things are being said out there like that after the pause to return our hostages, we will stop the war. Well, let it be clear: we are at war and we will continue the war. We will continue the war until we achieve all our war goals: Eliminate Hamasreturn all our hostages and missing people and ensure that there is no element in Gaza that threatens Israel”Netanyahu said before the meeting.
This pause comes after weeks of increasing pressure from the international community and major international organizations, such as United Nationsto stop the incessant attacks, which have also caused more than 1.5 million displaced people.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the attack launched by the Islamist group against Israel on October 7in which more than 1,200 people died and 240 were kidnapped and taken to Loop.
