Israel-Hamas Truce, Release of Hostages and Prisoners to Start Friday

admin November 23, 2023 in General USA - 5 Minutes

A truce between Israel and Hamas will begin Friday at 05:00 GMT, with the first group of hostages set to be released from Gaza at 4 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, which is helping negotiate the deal.

The truce will include a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza’s north and south, spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told journalists in Doha. He noted that Palestinians jailed in Israel also will be released as part of the deal.

Fifty women and children hostages who were abducted from Israel by the militant group Hamas on October 7 will be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children jailed in Israel.

Sameera Dwayyat, the mother of Shorouq Dwayyat, 26, a female Palestinian prisoner serving a 16-year sentence, holds a picture of her daughter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 22, 2023.

Thirteen hostages will be released from Gaza on Friday, and additional groups of hostages will be released each day of the cease-fire until 50 are freed.

Israel has received an initial list of the hostages who are set to be released from Gaza on Friday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Thursday.

“The relevant authorities are checking the details of the list and are presently in contact with all the families,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Under the deal, Israel is set to pause its attacks on Gaza for four days. The truce could last beyond the initial four days, Israel said, if Hamas releases at least 10 hostages per day. The Qatari spokesperson said Doha hopes to broker another agreement to release more hostages from Gaza by the truce’s fourth day.

The 50 hostages were initially expected to be released on Thursday. Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said in a statement late Wednesday that negotiations were continuing and that the first hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would not be released until at least Friday.

None of the identities of those being freed has been disclosed, but U.S. officials said they believe some of the nine American hostages believed to be held by Hamas would be among those released.

An Israeli soldier lies next to armoured personnel carriers (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel, Nov. 23, 2023. — An Israeli soldier lies next to armoured personnel carriers (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near Israel’s border with Gaza in southern Israel, Nov. 23, 2023.

Continuing attacks

Israel’s military said Thursday it carried out aerial attacks on 300 Hamas targets during the past day, including tunnels, warehouses and anti-tank positions used by the militant group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to ensure Hamas is unable to attack Israel in the future. He said in a news conference late Wednesday that following the end of a cease-fire period, Israel’s military would resume its campaign in Gaza.

“I want to be clear. The war is continuing. The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said.

Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after the U.S.-designated terrorist group launched a cross-border attack on October 7. Israel said 1,200 people were killed that day and about 240 hostages taken back to Gaza.

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Nov. 23, 2023.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 12,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,000 children, have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Prisoners held by Israel

Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be let out as part of the deal, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. Under Israeli law, the public has 24 hours to object to any release.

The Israeli military says it has detained more than 1,850 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began, most of them suspected Hamas members. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed there, mainly during battles triggered by army raids. Attacks by Jewish settlers have also surged.

Israeli soldiers run next to an army vehicle in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Nov. 23, 2023.

Humanitarian aid for Gaza

The pause in fighting will allow for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza. Such assistance has been sharply curtailed since the fighting began.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 80 trucks reached the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, bringing the total during the past month to 1,479 truckloads of aid. The agency said an average of 10,000 truckloads of commercial and humanitarian commodities were reaching Gaza each month prior to the conflict.

The United Nations said more than 1.7 million people have been displaced within Gaza, including 945,000 people staying at over-capacity U.N.-run shelters.

VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report from Israel. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.