Israel and Hamas appeared close to a deal Tuesday to release 50 women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, reports said.
More than a month after kidnapping some 240 people during a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Palestinian terror group Hamas reportedly agreed to begin freeing dozens of captives as early as Thursday in exchange for a days-long lull in the war. has destroyed the Palestinian territories.
The hostages released under the agreement were 30 children, eight mothers and 12 other women, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
The development came as the Al Quds Brigade, the militant wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, said a female hostage it was holding had died.
“We previously expressed our willingness to release him for humanitarian reasons, but the enemy stalled and this led to his death,” the terrorists said on their Telegram channel, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The release of several other hostages will take place in waves over four days during the truce – and at the same time Israel will release Palestinian women and children in its custody under the deal, according to reports.
No Palestinian killer will be freed, the outlet said.
Hamas and Israel are reportedly close to a deal that would free the hostages who were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Hamas is online
US officials said they hoped Abigail Mor Idan, a 3-year-old American girl whose parents were killed on October 7, would be among the children released.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gathered with his war cabinet and top government officials throughout the day to try to peddle the plan, several media outlets said.
A Hamas terrorist kidnapped an Israeli from the Supernova Music Festival. ANONYMOUS/AFP via Getty Images A Hamas terrorist held abducting an Israeli child after the Oct. 7 attack. Online Hamas Bullet holes and blood in the door of a house in a kibbutz attacked by Hamas. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
The PM urged his government to support the deal, saying the move was “a difficult decision, but it was the right one,” reports said.
Netanyahu’s office said the process would involve terrorists beginning to release some women and children to the Red Cross. The kidnap victim will then be detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
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The hostages then have to undergo a medical examination before being taken to one of five remote hospitals in Israel to meet their families.
The planned process coincided with a statement from US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who told reporters Tuesday that the hostages would need “immediate medical treatment” given the “disgusting” conditions in their custody.
The next stage will involve medical and military personnel speaking to the hostages to tell them what happened to them and the other hostages after October 7. The former hostage will then speak to Israeli security officials about the situation.
The deal – made with the help of the Qatari government – also includes Hamas working to track down about 10 additional children abducted from Israel who are believed to be among the 30 taken by the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza, the Times of Israel reported. .
But Netanyahu warned that the ceasefire would only be temporary, regardless of any deal, as he reiterated his pledge to see the end of Hamas.
Relatives of the kidnapped children advocated Monday in Tel Aviv for their release. Getty Images A poster of a child taken hostage by Hamas faints in Tel Aviv on November 21, 2023.REUTERS/Amir Cohen
“I want to make it clear here again: The war continues, the war will continue until we achieve all our goals: to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel, there will be no elements in it that supports terrorism, that educates its children to violence, and that threatens the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
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Ahead of the hostage negotiations, the Israeli army moved the Palestinians arrested on Tuesday out of the Gaza Strip. It was not clear whether those transferred were among the prisoners released in the hostage negotiations.
The deal is also designed to create the first major lull in a war that has killed more than 1,200 people in the Jewish state and more than 11,500 others were reported in Gaza, an unprecedented loss of life in decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says a ceasefire in Gaza will only happen if Hamas releases the hostages. Xinhua/Shutterstock
It will provide relief to those taking refuge in Gaza after Israel began an all-out bombardment and ground offensive into Palestinian territory, closing hospitals and evacuating civilians to the south.
On Monday, wounded Palestinians were transferred from a struggling Indonesian hospital to Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
The ceasefire agreement is likely to be coordinated with further evacuations from northern Gaza, which holds several Hamas headquarters, along with more aid trucks to be received by hospitals.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
