Israel and Hamas agree on 4-day ceasefire that includes release of 50 hostages in Gaza
- Israel’s cabinet and Hamas backed a deal that will free dozens of hostages from Gaza, release of a number of Palestinian prisoners
- China says it ‘welcomes’ temporary truce, which would be the first lull in a conflict that began October 7 and has killed thousands of people
Israel and Hamas announced a deal on Wednesday allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, while offering besieged Gaza residents a four-day truce after weeks of all-out war.
In the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the war, Palestinian militants will release during a four-day truce 50 of the roughly 240 hostages held in Gaza. The first hostages to be released are women and children.
After weeks of Qatar-brokered negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the truce accord Wednesday after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told ministers this was a “difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.
The cabinet’s sign-off was one of the last stumbling blocks after what one US official described as five “extremely excruciating” weeks of talks.
Hamas released a statement welcoming the “humanitarian truce”, which it said would also see 150 Palestinians released from Israeli jails. The truce deal will also allow hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid to enter Gaza, Hamas said.
During the four-day truce, air traffic will completely stop in southern Gaza and will halt for six hours a day, from 10am to 4pm (local time), in northern Gaza, a Hamas statement said.
