Israel, agreement with Hamas approved: truce and hostage exchange OK

The security cabinet gave the green light to the agreement. The first release is scheduled for Sunday, with the release of three Israeli women

The Israeli security cabinet approved an agreement with Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, accompanied by an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. This was announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The agreement will now be submitted to a vote of the government, which will meet today at 3:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. in Italy). If approved, the truce could start as early as tomorrow.

During the meeting, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, expressed their opposition, but the proposal was nevertheless accepted. Netanyahu reassured the ministers by outlining the guarantees obtained from US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, explaining that military operations could resume if the agreement was not fulfilled.

First release scheduled for Sunday

According to plans, the release of hostages will begin on Sunday with the release of three Israeli women. A total of 33 people will be released in this first phase. Hamas will only announce the names of the hostages on the day of their release, in line with what has been agreed.

Release of Palestinian prisoners

In exchange for the hostages, Israel will release 1,700 Palestinian prisoners: 700 of them are accused of terrorism, while about 1,000 were detained during the conflict that began on 8 October. The transfer operations will be managed directly by the Israeli authorities, without the involvement of the Red Cross, to ensure that security measures are respected.

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(Photo: © AndKronos)