Breaking: Israel Agrees to Temporary Ceasefire to Hamas
Breaking: Israel Agrees to Temporary Ceasefire to Hamas
The Israeli government led by PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages by Hamas. The vote was held Wednesday (22/11/2023) local time, at around 03.00, after more than six hours of discussion between cabinet members.
Quoting CNN International, Israel will stop attacks for four days. Hamas will also release 50 hostages per day, mostly women and children.
Through an official statement, the Israeli government also stated the possibility that the ceasefire would be extended. For every additional 10 hostages released, the pause will be extended by another day.
"The Israeli government is committed to repatriating all hostages. Tonight, they agreed to a proposed agreement as the first stage to achieve this goal," the government said, published by Reuters.
However, the Netanyahu government also made it clear that it would continue the war, both from the air and on the ground, after all the hostages were freed. Hamas, according to the Israeli government, must be destroyed.
Unfortunately, the statement did not mention the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Although this is believed to be an important part of the deal brokered by the Qatari government.
Israel is also known to be detaining around 150 Palestinians. Those who must be released are women and children.
Some 240 people are believed to have been abducted in the Hamas attack on October 7. Israel also claims that the Hamas armed group killed around 1,200 people at that time.
Netanyahu's government then attacked Gaza for more than a month. The attacks killed more than 14,100 civilians, 6,000 children and 4,000 women.
Calls for a ceasefire continue to be voiced by a number of parties. As a result of the war in Gaza, support for Israel in the US public declined, several world countries cut ties and recalled diplomats because they considered it out of bounds and genocide.
Previously, Hamas had released four prisoners on the humanitarian market. They are US citizens Judith Raanan (59) and her daughter, Natalie Raanan (17) on October 20, as well as Israeli women Nurit Cooper (79) and Yocheved Lifshitz (850 on October 23).
"We previously expressed our willingness to release him for humanitarian reasons, but the enemy (Israel) stalled and this led to his death," the Hamas-linked Palestinian Islamic Jihad military wing, the Al Quds Brigades, said on its Telegram channel.