Fifteen months after the horrific attacks of October 7, 2023, a deal has been reached for the release of Israeli hostages languishing in Hamas captivity. “Senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirms to reporters that the terror group has accepted a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel,” The Times of Israel reported Wednesday afternoon.
President-elect Donald Trump announced the agreement on Truth Social. “We have a deal,” he declared, adding that the hostages “will be release shortly.”
The Associated Press reported the details:
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release dozens of hostages after more than 15 months of war. (…)Israel announced late Wednesday that Hamas had tried to change agreed-upon understandings for security arrangements along Gaza’s border with Egypt. It strongly rejected the proposals.Qatar’s prime minister, who has been mediating the talks, met separately with Hamas and Israeli delegations, and shortly afterwards, the dispute was resolved, the Qatari official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes negotiations.The Hamas official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the matter was resolved.
The Biden White House also issued a statement welcoming to agreement:
Under the agreed framework, Israel will withdraw its ground troops from Gaza in phases. This will allow Gaza residents, and worryingly, the Hamas terrorists, to move across the enclave unchecked.
The Israeli news website YNET reported that “the first phase of the agreement will last for six weeks and include a gradual withdrawal of IDF troops from central Gaza and the return of displaced Gaza residents to the northern areas of the Strip.”
This hostages-for-terrorists deal will reportedly lead to the release of a large number of Palestinian terrorists, including convicted murderers. “Hamas will release 33 hostages including all of the women, IDF soldiers among them, the two Bibas children and men over the age of 50,” the news outlet added.
Just like in the past, Hamas cannot be trusted to keep its part of the deal. The terrorist group made new demands at the final stages of the negotiations. In late November 2023, Hamas broke a similar hostages-for-terrorists deal, ambushing Israeli troops in Gaza and staging a deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Hamas’s bid to extract more last-minute concessions from Israel:
According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, “In the face of Benjamin Netanyahu’s firmness, Hamas has withdrawn its last-minute request concerning the redeployment of forces on the Philadelphia axis.”The statement, however, specifies that “several points still remain to be finalized in the agreement” and that the details should be settled during the night.
Israeli government will formally endorse the deal after deliberations on Thursday morning. Prime Minister Netanyahu-led “security cabinet will meet tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to approve the ceasefire and hostage release agreement,” the i24NEWS disclosed in a separate report Wednesday.
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