SAN FRANCISCO: Palestinian militant group, Hamas which carried out attacks on Israelis in areas close to Gaza Strip, has said on Wednesday that it agreed with Israel to a four-day ceasefire that will see the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and allow humanitarian aid and fuel to enter the besieged enclave.
Hamas made its official statement on social media platform ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter) at about 6.40 PM PST (Pacific Standard Time) and shared by one of their spokespersons.
Hamas said in a statement it would release 50 women and children – from among the roughly 240 hostages captured by the militants in their surprise October 7, 2023 attack in Israel – in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children.
Hamas said the agreement, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, will allow hundreds of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid trucks to enter Gaza. All Israeli air activity in south Gaza will stop for four days, while air traffic in the north, the initial focus of Israel’s ground assault, will stop from 10:00 a.m. to 04:00 p.m. local time, Hamas said.
“As we announce the striking of a truce agreement, we affirm that our fingers remain on the trigger, and our victorious fighters will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defeat the occupation,” Hamas said.
A Qatari mediator involved in the negotiations for the ceasefire said the country hoped the deal would lead to a permanent ceasefire, a Reuters report said.
Israel, in a separate statement confirming the deal, said the pause in fighting would be extended for another day for every additional 10 hostages released. Hamas did not mention any such arrangement, a report by Associated Press said.
“Israel’s government is committed to return all the hostages home. Tonight, it approved the proposed deal as a first stage to achieving this goal,” Israel’s prime minister’s office said.
Israeli bombardments have damaged buildings and flattened swathes of Hamas-ruled Gaza, killed 13,300 people in the tiny densely populated enclave and left about two-thirds of its 2.3 million people homeless, according to authorities in Gaza.
A report of AP said: Qatar’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, told Reuters that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be working inside Gaza to facilitate the hostages’ release.
“(It’s) going to be an intensive period where we’re going to be 24/7 in direct communication with the ICRC and the two parties making sure that we perfect the release of the hostages,” Al-Khulaifi was quoted by AP as saying.
He said that the truce means there would be “no attack whatsoever. No military movements, no expansion, nothing.”
Al-Khulaifi added that Qatar hopes the deal “will be a seed to a bigger agreement and a permanent cease of fire. And that’s our intention.”
Al-Khulaifi said: “In our understanding it’s the light at the end of the tunnel. It is a positive development to this very difficult and complicated crisis that we’re living.
Israeli Cabinet Approves Ceasefire
The Israeli cabinet on Wednesday approved a ceasefire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war on the Gaza and release dozens of hostages being held in the besieged strip in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, a report by AP said.
The deal comes at a time when the devastating war on Gaza stretched over into its sixth week, killing over 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the AP report said.
In fact, Palestinian health officials in Gaza have not been able to update the death toll because of the collapse of parts of the enclave’s health system and the difficulty of retrieving bodies from areas overrun by Israeli tanks and troops.
However, it is not immediately clear when the cease-fire deal would come into effect.
Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal
Under the deal, Hamas has to free 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over a four-day period, the Israeli government said Wednesday. It said it would extend the lull by an additional day for every 10 hostages released.
The government said the first hostages to be released would be women and children.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas after the cease-fire expires. “We are at war, and we will continue the war,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.”
During the lull period, Netanyahu said that intelligence efforts will be maintained, allowing the army to prepare for the next stages of battle. He said the battle would continue until “Gaza will not threaten Israel.”
The cease-fire deal, however, does not mean an end to the war on Gaza whose 2.3 million people have been cut off from access to food, water and fuel since October 7, 2023. Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets throughout Gaza, often killing women and children.
An announcement on ‘X’ by said:
BREAKING: HAMAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON CEASEFIRE
“Based on our responsibility towards our patient and steadfast Palestinian people, and our tireless endeavor to strengthen the steadfastness of our heroic people in our proud Gaza, to provide relief and heal their wounds, and to consolidate the will of our victorious resistance on the seventh of October in the face of the Zionist enemy.
After difficult and complex negotiations for many days, we announce, with the help and success of God Almighty, that we have reached a humanitarian truce agreement (temporary ceasefire) for a period of four days, thanks to persistent and appreciated Qatari and Egyptian efforts.
Accordingly, the terms set out are:
— A ceasefire on both sides, a cessation of all military actions by occupation forces in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and a cessation of the movement of its military vehicles penetrating into the Gaza Strip.
— The entry of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, relief, medical and fuel aid into all areas of the Gaza Strip, without exception, in the north and south.
— The release of 50 women and children of the occupation’s detainees, all under the age of 19 years, in exchange for the release of 150 women and children of our people from the occupation’s prisons under the age of 19 years, in order of time imprisoned.
— Stopping all occupation air traffic in the south for four days.
— Stopping all occupation air traffic in the North for 6 hours a day, from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. During the truce period, the occupation is committed not to attack or arrest anyone in all areas of the Gaza Strip.
— Ensuring freedom of movement of people (from north to south) along Salah El-Din Street.
The terms of this agreement were formulated in accordance with the vision of the resistance and its determinants, which aim to serve our people and strengthen their steadfastness in the face of aggression, and it was always mindful of their sacrifices, suffering and concerns, and it conducted these negotiations from a position of steadfastness and strength in the field, despite the occupation’s attempts to prolong and procrastinate the negotiations.
While we announce the arrival of a truce agreement, we affirm that our hands will remain on the trigger, and our victorious battalions will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defeat the occupation and aggression.
We promise our people that we will remain loyal to their blood, their sacrifices, their patience, their bond, and their aspirations for liberation, freedom, the restoration of rights, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, God willing.”
Have you liked the news article?