Hamas leadership and the Israeli government reached a breakthrough agreement on Wednesday, negotiating a four-day pause to fighting in Gaza. During that time, dozens of hostages taken from Israel during the October 7 attacks will be exchanged for imprisoned Palestinian civilians, and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed into the embattled region.
The temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was brokered by representatives from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, and will take effect at 10 am local time on Thursday morning.
According to the terms of the agreement, Hamas will release 10-12 hostages per day, accounting for roughly 50 of the estimated 240 civilians abducted by the militant group during its raid last month. In exchange, Israel will release approximately 150 Palestinians, all women and children, who were arrested for stone-throwing and public order offenses in the West Bank. Israel currently holds nearly 7,000 people incarcerated for such crimes.
Initial reports have suggested that all hostages and prisoners involved in the exchange must be under the age of 19, but this has yet to be substantiated by either party.
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Qatar also indicated that “a significant amount of humanitarian aid,” including fuel and medical supplies, will be allowed into Gaza. The Israeli government further stated that the ceasefire might be extended by one day per every 10 additional hostages released.
The pause in fighting, which will mark the first break in Irsael’s retaliatory strikes in nearly seven weeks, comes in response to mounting political pressure against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As casualties from the conflict grow, calls for a ceasefire and the safe return of hostages have spread around the world.
“We are at war, and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals — to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages and missing persons and to guarantee that there will be no factor in Gaza that threatens Israel,” Netanyahu said before the Tuesday Cabinet vote that approved the pause. “There are stages in a war, and there are also stages in the return of the abducted.”
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