Gaza war: what do we know about the truce agreement between Hamas and Israel?

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement to exchange 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a cessation of fighting for four days.

The agreement also provides for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, as well as allowing for more humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The BBC understands that the cessation of fighting will take effect at 10am (8am GMT) on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden said the deal would end the “ordeal” of the hostages and “alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families”.

The Israeli government has vowed to finish its war to eliminate Hamas and return the remainder of more than 200 hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, according to the report. Israeli government.

Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and other Western powers, said the deal would give Palestinians time to recover after an intense Israeli air and ground offensive that the Gaza government says has killed more than 14,000 people.

Which hostages will be released?

After talks continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israel’s coalition government finally signed this agreement.

A statement released by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that 50 women and children will be released over four days, during which “the fighting will end”.

The statement also gives Hamas an incentive to release more hostages, saying: “The release of every 10 additional hostages will lead to an additional day of ceasefire.”

This clause is seen as important for the hostages’ families, some of whom had previously told the BBC they did not want to see a partial deal.

It is expected that 50 hostages will be released in four batches, each consisting of 12 hostages who are Israeli citizens or have dual citizenship.

No list of hostages to be freed has been released, but a senior US official told reporters that at least three US citizens – including three-year-old Abigail Idan, whose parents were killed in Kibbutz Kfar Azza – will be among the hostages to be released. released.

A senior Israeli official said Tuesday afternoon that Hamas may also unilaterally release the 26 Thai citizens believed to be among the hostages.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was ready to facilitate the release of the hostages, as its staff did when Hamas released two Israeli-American women and two Israeli women last month.

Previously, Israeli forces in Gaza announced that they had rescued a female soldier and recovered the bodies of two other hostages, a female soldier and a female civilian.

The Israeli government said it would “continue the war to return all hostages to their homes, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there is no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”

What will happen in Gaza during the ceasefire?

In a longer statement, Hamas provided more details on whether Israeli military action would cease for the duration of what it called a “truce” or temporary reprieve.

All Israeli drone and aircraft activity is expected to stop for four days in southern Gaza.

But in the north, which was the main target of Israeli operations to dismantle Hamas, the situation will continue as it is at specific times, between 10:00 and 16:00 local time (08:00-14:00 GMT) everyday. day.

Israeli troops and tanks are expected to remain in their positions inside Gaza during the four-day lull in fighting, but a Hamas statement said Israeli forces would not attack or arrest anyone.

For Palestinians in Gaza, 1.7 million of whom have fled their homes because of the war according to the United Nations, a reprieve from the brutal fighting may not come soon.

The deal will allow 200 trucks carrying aid, four fuel tankers and four trucks carrying gas to enter Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing on each of four days.

But what can be understood is that the increase in fuel, which the sector needs to run hospital generators, water desalination and sanitation facilities, will only continue for the period of the fighting’s cessation.

Israel has cut electricity and much water and blocked shipments of food, fuel and other goods to Gaza in response to the Hamas attack.

According to the United Nations, it allowed only 1,399 shipments of humanitarian supplies to enter through Egypt last month, compared to a monthly average of 10,000 shipments before the war. Israel blocked all fuel shipments until last week, saying Hamas could use it for military purposes.

While the deal will allow the people of Gaza safe passage from north to south, it will not allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the north to return to their homes.

Who are the Palestinian prisoners?

Hamas said the deal also includes the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, all women and children.

The Israeli government statement makes no mention of it, but Israel’s Justice Ministry on Wednesday morning published a list in Hebrew of the names of 300 prisoners who may be released under the deal, on the basis that Hamas agrees to release more 50 hostages. .

The list includes 123 boys aged between 14 and 17, one girl aged 15, 144 young men aged 18 and 32 women aged between 18 and 59. Most of them are in pre-trial detention awaiting trial on charges ranging from stone-throwing to attempted murder.

Publishing the list is a legal formality in Israel. Before any prisoner is released, Israeli citizens must be able to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court for 24 hours.

No serious accidents are expected, but for this reason there is a delay in the entry into force of the agreement.

According to Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, Israel currently holds around 7,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of security crimes. Around 3,000 Palestinians were reported to have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, where violence has also increased, since 7 October.

Hamas’ statement concludes by saying that the agreement aims to “serve our people and strengthen their steadfastness in the face of aggression.”

He warned: “Our fingers are still on the trigger and our victorious fighters will remain vigilant to defend our people and defeat the occupation.”