The office of Israel’s Prime Minister released a statement on the temporary cease-fire agreement: “The Israeli government is committed to the return of all hostages home. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released for 4 days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting.”
Qatari negotiators reportedly helped broker the agreement, which was officially announced that it would be “imminent” after Israeli and Hamas leaders said Tuesday that they were in their final stages of talks. The Israeli government overwhelmingly voted in favor of the agreement Tuesday evening.
“The release of every ten additional hostages will result in an additional day of respite. The Israeli government, the IDF and the security forces will continue the war in order to return all the hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas and to ensure that Gaza does not renew any threat to the State of Israel” the Prime Minister’s statement continued.
Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported Hamas leaders agreed they would release one hostage for every three Palestinians that Israel releases from its prisons. Israel’s military has agreed to temporarily stop its pursuit of Hamas – including its ground invasion of Gaza and its airstrikes- for humanitarian purposes.
Hamas has not backed down in its pursuit of terror. Even in their statement confirming the cease-fire, Hamas praised its brutal terror attack on Israel on October 7th calling it a “victorious resistance.”
“The terms of this agreement were formulated according to a vision that aims to serve our people and strengthen their steadfastness in the face of aggression, and always pay attention to their sacrifices, suffering and concerns” Hamas’ statement continued. “At the time when we announce the arrival of a truce agreement, we affirm that our victorious brigades and all our resistance factions will remain the protective shield and defender of our people until the occupation and aggression are defeated” it concluded.
It is currently unclear which prisoners or hostages will be released. A senior administration official said “you’ll see the first hostages come out over the course of Thursday” noting releases could occur at multiple locations.
