Israel approves deal for temporary Gaza ceasefire, hostage release

The agreement came after talks on a Qatar-mediated deal that continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning, with Israeli media reporting heated exchanges between ministers of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

In the end, only three of the 38 members of the cabinet voted against the truce – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and two other members of his far-right political party.

The prime minister’s office announced the deal would require Hamas to release at least 50 women and children during a four-day truce.  For every additional 10 hostages released, the pause would be extended by a day, it added, without mentioning the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

“Israel’s government is committed to return all the hostages home. Tonight, it approved the proposed deal as a first stage to achieving this goal,” it said in its brief statement.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, also released a statement, confirming that 50 women and children currently held in the territory would be freed in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails.

It said that Israel would also stop all military actions in Gaza, and that hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian, medical and fuel aid would be allowed into the territory.

The accord is the first truce of a war in which Israel has flattened vast swathes of Gaza, which is home to about 2.3 million people. Palestinian officials say at least 14,100 people have been killed, while the United Nations says about 1.7 million people have been forced from their homes. Hamas killed at least 1,200 people in its attack on Israel.

Officials from Qatar, the United States, Israel and Hamas have for days been suggesting a deal was imminent.

In a statement issued later, Qatar confirmed the “success” of mediation efforts, which also involved Egypt and the United States, and confirmed the broad parameters of the agreement.

“The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours and last for four days, subject to extension,” the statement added.

It confirmed that humanitarian aid would be sent to Gaza, and that 50 women and children held captive there would be released in exchange for “a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons”.

The “number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement”, it noted without going into detail.

About 237 captives from Israel and several other countries are thought to be in Gaza, but foreign nationals are not thought to be part of the agreement.

Hamas has released only four captives since the abductions took place more than a month ago – an American mother and her daughter and two elderly Israeli women.

It has claimed some of the captives were killed in the Israeli bombardment.