The deal will see 50 hostages released during a four-day ceasefire.
Israel’s Cabinet approved a Qatari-brokered ceasefire and hostage-release deal with the Hamas terrorist group early Wednesday morning, the Israeli government announced.
The deal will see at least 50 of the 240 hostages, exclusively women and children, released over four days, “during which there will be a lull in the fighting.” The Israeli government said that an additional “day of respite” will be added for every 10 hostages released.
“The Israeli government, the IDF, and the security forces will continue the war in order to return all the hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza does not renew any threat to the State of Israel,” the statement added.
Hamas and U.S. officials said the deal includes the release of 150 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, who are also all women and children. Additionally, the deal stipulates that the four-day pause in fighting will allow for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for “their leadership” in reaching the deal and pledged that he “will not stop” until all American hostages are released.
“I appreciate the commitment that [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government have made in supporting an extended pause to ensure this deal can be fully carried out and to ensure the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza,” President Biden said in a statement.
“I look forward to speaking with each of these leaders and staying in close contact as we work to ensure this deal is carried through in its entirety,” he continued. “It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented.”
The deal was the result of weeks of extensive negotiations involving the United States, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas, and Israel, according to the White House.
“The president has been directly and personally engaged in this process throughout, almost hour by hour,” a senior administration official told reporters during a call previewing the deal.
By Emel Akan and Caden Pearson
