Hamas says 150 Palestinians will be released from Israeli jails under deal

We’ve been hearing from Israel on the hostage deal signed off by the cabinet a little while ago. Hamas has also released a statement on the agreement.

The statement, published via the Palestinian Information Centre which carries the group’s official statements, said the 50 hostages would be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children being held in Israeli jails.

The deal will also allow hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid, medical supplies and fuel to enter Gaza, according to Hamas.

The statement added that Israel said it would not attack or arrest anyone in Gaza during the pause in fighting.

And it said that during the four-day pause, air traffic will completely stop in southern Gaza and will halt for six hours a day, from 10:00 to 16:00 local time, in northern Gaza.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by many countries including the UK and the US, abducted around 240 people from Israel during its brutal attacks on 7 October.

Summary

1. Israel’s cabinet has approved a deal with Hamas to secure the release of 50 hostages being held in Gaza
2. The hostages will be released over a four-day pause in fighting, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office says
3. Under the deal, the release of every additional 10 hostages will extend the pause in fighting by one day
4. The deal was approved by Israel’s cabinet after a lengthy meeting that ran into the early hours of Wednesday
5. Before the meeting, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the war effort would continue even if a hostage agreement was struck
6. Israel began attacking Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed the border on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others hostage
7. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 14,000 people – including more than 5,000 children – have been killed in Israel’s campaign

Deal is designed to encourage more hostage releases

Yolande Knell

Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

This long-expected deal has just been signed off.

While it initially allows for 50 women and child hostages to be freed in batches by Hamas in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting, the deal has evidently been structured to encourage further releases.

The incentive is a longer pause in fighting: “The release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause,” the Israeli government statement says.

That clause is an important one for the hostage’s families, some of whom had told me they didn’t want to see a partial deal.

It is also expected that the 50 hostages to be released would be those with Israeli nationality or dual nationals.

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