JERUSALEM, Israel
Israel’s Cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war that has stretched on for over six weeks.
Under the deal, Hamas is to
free 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over a
four-day period, the Israeli government said Wednesday. It said it would extend
the lull by an additional day for every 10 hostages released.
Ahead of Wednesday morning’s
Cabinet vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would resume its
offensive against Hamas after the ceasefire expires.
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It was not immediately clear
when the truce would go into effect.
The government said the first hostages to be released would be women and
children.
Israel and Hamas on Wednesday
appeared close to a deal that would temporarily halt their devastating six-week
war and release dozens of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for
Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu convened his Cabinet for a vote late Tuesday. The meeting
stretched into the early hours Wednesday, underscoring the sensitivity of a
proposal that would suspend an Israeli offensive against Hamas before it has reached
its goals.
Ahead of the vote, Netanyahu
sought to assure the government ministers that the break was only tactical,
vowing to resume the offensive after the truce expires. Top security officials
also attended the meeting.
“We are at war, and we will continue the war,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.”
The Israeli Cabinet was
expected to approve a plan that would halt Israel’s offensive in Gaza for
several days in exchange for the release of about 50 of the 240 hostages held
by Hamas. Israel has vowed to continue the war until it destroys Hamas’ military
capabilities and returns all hostages.
Hamas predicted on Tuesday
that the deal, mediated by Qatar and the United States, could be reached in
“the coming hours.”
Netanyahu acknowledged that
the Cabinet faced a tough decision, but supporting the ceasefire was the right
thing to do. Netanyahu appeared to have enough support to pass the measure,
despite opposition from some hard-line ministers.
Netanyahu said that during the
lull, intelligence efforts will be maintained, allowing the army to prepare for
the next stages of battle. He said the battle would continue until “Gaza will
not threaten Israel.”
The announcement came as
Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp in
northern Gaza and around hospitals overcrowded with patients and sheltering
families.
Details of the expected
ceasefire deal were not released. Israeli media reported that an agreement
would include a five-day halt in Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the release of
50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for some 150 Palestinian prisoners held
by Israel.
Israel’s Channel 12 TV said
the first releases would take place Thursday or Friday and continue for several
days.
Talks have repeatedly stalled.
But even if a deal is reached, it would not mean an end to the war, which
erupted on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants stormed across the border into southern
Israel and killed at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped
some 240 others.
In weeks of Israeli airstrikes
and a ground invasion, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed,
two-thirds of them women and minors, and more than 2,700 others are missing and
believed to be buried under rubble, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The
ministry says it has been unable to update its count since Nov. 11 because of
the health sector’s collapse.
Gaza health officials say the
toll has risen sharply since, and hospitals continue to report deaths from
daily strikes, often dozens at a time.
The Health Ministry in the
West Bank last reported a toll of 13,300 but stopped providing its own count
Tuesday without giving a reason.
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