2023-11-23 18:30:00
(CNN) — Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to pause the fighting and release some of the hostages held by the militant group, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel.
The truce will begin at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) on Friday and the civilian hostages will be released at 4 p.m. local time, according to Qatar, which played a crucial role in negotiating the deal.
The agreement comes after weeks of detailed discussions involving international negotiators and mediators, and represents the first major decrease in tensions in the conflict, which began on October 7 after the brutal attacks by Hamas against Israel, in which About 1,200 people died.
Since then, more than 12,700 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, while hundreds of thousands of civilians seek refuge from airstrikes amid shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
This is what we know so far.
What does the hostage agreement include?
The deal will see the release of 50 women and children held captive in Gaza by Hamas, according to Qatar, whose government mediated the negotiations between Israel and the militant group.
In exchange, Israel will grant a “humanitarian pause” in its assault on the enclave and release some Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas issued a statement saying that 150 women and children held in Israeli prisons would be released. The agreement also allows hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid, medical supplies and fuel to enter Gaza, according to Hamas, repeating details of Qatar’s statement.
Israel’s own statement stated that the pause in fighting would last four days, but that the truce could be extended longer, adding one more day for every 10 additional hostages that could be freed.
There is an option for the pause to last up to 10 days, but Israeli officials believe it is unlikely to extend that long.
In the first hostage release scheduled for Friday morning, 13 women and children will be freed, according to a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.
An undisclosed number of Palestinian prisoners are also scheduled to be released around 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), after the hostages are freed from Gaza, Al-Ansari said at a news conference.
The route the freed hostages will take cannot be revealed for security reasons, Al-Ansari said in response to a question from CNN. Qatar will work closely on the operation with the Red Cross and the “warring parties.”
Many of the first 50 hostages are expected to leave through Egypt.
Which hostages will be released?
The names of the hostages who will be released have not been made public. However, Israel’s military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said they are all Israelis, and some have dual nationality.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the deal “should bring more American hostages home.”
Two American hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, were among four hostages released earlier in the conflict.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that emerged in response to the Hamas attack on Israel, lists 201 Israelis believed to be alive and held hostage in Gaza as of October 7.
That list includes 39 children 18 years old or younger; 44 adult women and 89 adult men from 19 to 64 years old; and 29 people aged 65 and over. The youngest is Kfir Bibas, 10 months old; the oldest are Yafa Adar, Shlomo Mansour and Arye Zalmanovich, all 85 years old.
Hamas has said that 150 Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli jails. Most of the Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release in an exchange for Israeli hostages are teenage boys between the ages of 16 and 18 (children as defined by the United Nations), although a few are as young as 14. About 33 are women, according to a CNN count. .
The list of 300 names published by Israel also lists the charges on which the prisoners are being held. Stone throwing and “undermining regional security” are some of the most common, but others include support for illegal terrorist organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement and at least two charges of attempted murder.
Al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that the list of hostages expected to be freed had been handed over to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.
How was this agreement reached?
The agreement comes after weeks of negotiations involving the United States and Egypt, with several back-and-forths as fighting on the ground took place, including the Israeli assault on Gaza’s largest hospital, sources told CNN.
The agreement depended on the approval of Israel’s Council of Ministers, which voted in favor of it by a “significant majority” in the early hours of Wednesday, after what an Israeli official described as a “tense and emotional” six-hour meeting.
The agreement also came after increasing pressure on the Israeli government by the families of the hostages, who have demanded answers and measures to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The plans were delayed overnight Wednesday, just hours before the hard-negotiated truce was to begin early Thursday morning. An official familiar with the matter downplayed the severity of the delay, attributing it to “fairly minor implementation details.” Qatar confirmed later on Thursday that the truce would begin on Friday.
What’s next in the war?
Several parties and hostage families expressed hope that this initial agreement could pave the way for the return of all hostages, with Israel’s president calling it a “significant first step.”
Qatar’s chief negotiator also urged the international community to “take advantage of this brief opportunity to give new impetus to the diplomatic track,” saying such a move was the only way to resolve the conflict and establish lasting peace.
However, Israel made clear in its statement that it plans to resume its air and ground campaign on Gaza “to complete the eradication of Hamas” once this round of hostage release concludes.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the war has two objectives: the return of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas.
This Tuesday, before it was approved, Netanyahu he told his cabinet that the agreement “would allow (the military) to prepare for the continuation of the fighting.” He said the war would continue until “Hamas and Gaza are no longer a threat to Israel.”
This article has been updated and is a developing story.
Jeremy Diamond, Tamar Michaelis, Becky Anderson, Mike Schwartz, Kareem El Damanhoury, Jennifer Hansler, Simone McCarthy y Betsy Klein, de CNN, contribuyeron a este reporte.
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