After an all-night-long special session, Israel’s cabinet approved a tentative deal for a four day ceasefire with Hamas during which up to 50 Israelis it holds hostage in Gaza will be released. The hostages would all be civilians, mostly children and some women.
While this has not been confirmed by the government of Israel, Israeli media reported that in return, Israel will release 150 terrorists it holds, all women, in exchange for the hostages.
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According to reports, Hamas would release 12 hostages each day of the ceasefire. There was no word as to when the exchange will begin, but Israeli media reported that the hostages could begin to be released on Thursday.
The delay is because under Israeli law the government must first release publicly the names of the convicted terrorists to be released and allow families of their victims to file court motions, should they wish to do so, to ask that an individual terrorist not be released. It will then be up to Israel’s Supreme Court to rule and such motions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet at the start of its meeting, “There are stages in a war and there are stages in the return of abductees. The outline that will be presented to you has been improved so that it includes more abductees at a lower cost. We have a difficult decision before us, but it is the right decision.”
Netanyahu added that the return of hostages is a “sacred priority and I am committed to it.”
The Government of Israel said in a statement about the deal that it is” obligated to return home all of the hostages. Tonight, the Government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held. The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.”
“The Government of Israel, the IDF, and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” it declared.
The President of Israel Isaac Herzog also released a statement about the deal explaining that he acknowledges that people are concerned with this deal saying that, “the reservations are understandable, painful, and difficult, but given the circumstances I back and support the decision of the Prime Minister and the Government to move forward with the deal to release hostages.”
President Herzog went on to say that returning hostages is, “a moral and ethical duty that correctly expresses the Jewish and Israeli value of securing the freedom of those held captive, with the hope that it will be the first step in returning all the hostages home.”
“The State of Israel, the IDF, and all the security forces will continue to act in every way possible to achieve this goal, alongside the restoration of the absolute security of the citizens of Israel.”
