Israel-Gaza war: 50 hostages to be freed by Hamas in ‘five-day truce’

Israel has approved a deal that will see 50 women and children kidnapped by Hamas freed during a “five-day truce”.

Officials have been thrashing out a settlement in Qatar for several weeks and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed his cabinet overnight to discuss a temporary ceasefire to allow an exchange.

Officials from the CIA and Israeli intelligence service Mossad were believed to have been involved in the talks.

However, Mr Netanyahu has vowed that the war would continue after the ceasefire until Israel achieved all of its goals.

A US official had said the deal would include a four or five-day ceasefire, the first pause in six weeks of an Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Speaking after presenting the still-undisclosed details of the deal to his war cabinet and the wider national security cabinet, Mr Netanyahu told his Government that it was a difficult decision but the right decision and would enable Israel to go on fighting Hamas.

He said the intervention of US President Joe Biden had helped improve the deal so that it included more hostages for fewer concessions.

In an earlier briefing, chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “The military will know how to maintain its military achievements in Gaza while preparing for the next stages of the war.”

Talk of an imminent hostage deal has swirled for days. Hamas took about 240 hostages, including children and elderly people, during its rampage into Israel that killed 1200 people, according to Israel’s tally.

In Israel’s subsequent aerial blitz and invasion of Gaza, the enclave’s Hamas-run government says at least 13,300 Palestinians have been confirmed killed including at least 5600 children.

A US official briefed on the discussions facilitated by Qatar said the deal would include 50 hostages, mostly women and children, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a pause in the fighting of four or five days.

Relatives of the Israeli hostages and supporters had marched by the thousands along the highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to pressure the government to secure the captives’ release.

Zvika Itzhaki, a relative of Israeli hostage Omer Wenkert, 22, said although the family was happy for the release of women and children, he hoped for the release also of those who are chronically sick.

“He has colitis, a severe intestinal disease. He has to take his daily pill. We don’t know what medical state he’s in,” Itzhaki said.

Qadura Fares, head of the Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs in the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, said he had not seen the list of Palestinian prisoners included in the pending deal.

He said among more than 7800 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel are about 85 women and 350 minors.

Most were detained without charges or for incidents such as hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers, not for launching militant attacks, he said.

“Talk of an exchange deal is what has brought attention to the issue of the arbitrary detention of Palestinian children who are being tried in military courts,” Mr Fares said.

“The world must know that Israel detains children and systematically targets them, and that their release from prison will surely be a comfort for their families.”

An Israel Prison Service spokesperson said they were not aware of a deal to release Palestinian prisoners.

They said they did not have information on how many Palestinian women and children were in its custody and details on the kinds of offences they were sentenced for.

Hamas has to date released only four captives: US citizens Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17, on October 20, citing “humanitarian reasons,” and Israeli women Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, on October 23.

Neighbouring Egypt has allowed the relocation of some wounded and foreign passport holders but says it will not accept a mass exodus.

“Continued bombing targeting displaced people in the South has a clear objective, and that is to force Gaza’s residents to leave the Strip,” Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman said on X.

“Egypt has clearly declared its utter rejection of any enforced displacement attempt of Palestinians.”