Israel And Hamas Have Reached A Deal For A Four-Day Ceasefire But Israel Says It Will Keep Fighting After
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has no plans to stop the war after the ceasefire.
The Israeli government and Hamas have agreed to a deal that would see a brief ceasefire that would see Hamas return 50 Israeli hostages in return for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
The Israeli cabinet backed the deal, which was mediated by Qatar, early on Wednesday Nov. 22.
Under the deal, there will be a minimum of a four-day ceasefire, during which Hamas will release at least 50 women and children it took hostage when it launched its surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
In return, Israel will release 150 Palestinian women and children it holds in its prisons.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that for every additional 10 hostages Hamas releases, it will extend the ceasefire for a day.
“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,” the Israeli government said in a brief statement.
“After many days of difficult and complex negotiations, we announce, with the help and blessing of God, that we have reached a humanitarian truce,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.
Hamas said that Israel will also stop all its military actions in Gaza as part of the deal, allowing hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian, medical and fuel aid to enter, according to Al Jazeera
During the truce, Israel will also not attack or arrest anyone in the Gaza Strip, as well as stop flying drones for six hours a day in north Gaza and fully in south Gaza.
However, Netanyahu has said Israel has no plans to stop the war after the ceasefire.
“We are at war, and we’ll continue this war until we meet all our objectives: dismantling Hamas, returning our hostages, and ensuring that in Gaza there will be no one that threatens Israel,” Netanyahu said, according to the New York Times.
Israeli officials said the earliest the ceasefire is likely to take effect is Thursday Nov. 23, so Israeli judges can have 24 hours to review any potential legal challenges to the prisoners’ release, according to the New York Times.
The ceasefire would be the first truce since Israel declared war on Hamas following the latter’s surprise attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis.
Since then, Israel has flattened large swathes of Gaza and killed more than 14,000 Palestinian people, including more than 5,000 children, with relentless airstrikes and a ground offensive.
Another 1.7 million people have lost their homes, according to the United Nations.
