Truce: Israel and Hamas agree pause in conflict in exchange for the release of 50 hostages
Among the terms of the agreement is a four-day ceasefire, the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange forIsrael must release 150 people detained in Israeli prisons. The start of the ceasefire will be announced within the next 24 hours. If successful, it would mark the first halt in fighting since October 7.
A woman searches through the rubble after an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza - Photo Reproduction/Getty images
In a surprising development, Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to a temporary truce on Wednesday morning (22), local time, Tuesday night (21), in Brazil, marking a ceasefire in the hostilities that have devastated the region for weeks. The turning point for this pause in the conflict was the decision by both parties to seek the release of 50 hostages as a gesture of goodwill. The information was released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
Israeli media reported that The first hostages are expected to be released on Thursday (23). According to government authorities, women and children in Hamas custody will be released over a period of four days. During this interval, there will be a suspension of the conflict. The prime minister's office also declared that the interruption of the conflict could be extended by one day for every 10 hostages released.
The Truce Agreement
The ceasefire, which had been negotiated discreetly since the beginning of the war, included the mediation by Qatar and the United States. American sources confirmed on Tuesday the existence of these conversations, corroborating information revealed last week by the newspaper "The Washington Post". The representative of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al-Ansari, stated that the proposal for an agreement for the release of hostages was delivered to Israel in the early hours of last Tuesday. The talks progressed during the early hours of Wednesday, local time.
According to a Hamas statement on Tuesday, the group offered the freedom of 50 women and children under the age of 19, in exchange for the release of 150 people, mostly Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons. The statement also states that Both parties agreed to suspend all fighting for four days, with Israel pledging not to attack or arrest individuals in Gaza during that period.
The Israeli government maintains its position that this does not mark the end of the conflict, reaffirming its commitment to “complete the eradication of Hamas”. Before the meeting, Israel's prime minister assured security officials and high-ranking government leaders that an attack against Hamas would resume after the release of the hostages.
Humanitarian help
The pause in the conflict will also allow more humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. During the four days, air traffic will be completely halted in the south of Gaza, while in the north there will be daily six-hour interruptions, Hamas said, allowing hundreds of trucks with medical aid, food and fuel to be authorized to transport humanitarian aid to all regions of Gaza. According to information from Israeli news media, six hospitals in Israel are preparing to receive the hostages.
“They established designated compounds to receive them, separated from other patients and the media,” Israeli newspaper Haaretz said.
Hamas hostages
All of them were captured during the attack that took place on October 7th. According to information from the Israel Defense Forces, approximately 240 people were kidnapped by the Hamas group, including nationals and foreigners held in custody by the said terrorist group, with more than 30 of these individuals being children. Most of those kidnapped lived in collective farming communities called "kibbutz". In addition, Hamas also took people who were at an open-air music festival hostage.
Hamas claims that 57 of the hostages lost their lives as a result of Israeli attacks in the Gaza region. Since the start of the conflict, four civilian hostages, including a 17-year-old, have been released by Hamas. The pioneers were a mother and her daughter from the United States. Then two Israeli women also had the opportunity to return home. Furthermore, the Israeli armed forces reported that, in a ground operation carried out on October 29, they managed to rescue a soldier who had been in captivity since the Hamas attack on Israeli territory. Hamas claims that the hostages are in tunnels and secure locations.
