Israel agrees to cease-fire with Hamas in exchange for release of 50 hostages

Hamas killers chase down fleeing Israelis

Israel has approved a deal — facilitated by Qatar — that would permit a truce with Palestine in exchange for the release of 50 hostages.

The governments, however, made clear that this deal is a ceasefire, and “not an end to the fighting”.

The deal calls for a four-day cease-fire, during which Israel will halt its military offensive in Gaza while Hamas frees “at least” 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it and other militants are holding, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

The first hostages to be released are women and children. “The government of Israel is committed to bringing all of the hostages home. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office office said in a statement.

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The ceasefire is a tentative one (Image: Getty)

Sources believe a woman who gave birth to her baby while a hostage will be one of those released.

Journalist Hallel Bitton Rosen wrote on X: “Officials in Israel estimate that the ceasefire will enter into a period on Thursday morning-noon, and at the same time the release of the first hostages.

“The same sources also estimate that the mother who gave birth to her baby in captivity will be released along with him as part of the deal.”

The deal will also allow 300 aid trucks a day into Gaza from Egypt.

It was not clear when the truce, brokered by the U.S. and Qatar, would go into effect.