The Israeli cabinet voted overwhelmingly in favor of accepting a deal for the release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and humanitarian aid, including fuel.
“The Israeli government is committed to bringing all the abductees home. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal, under which at least 50 abductees – women and children – will be released over a span of four days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting,” the statement said.
There may be additional hostage releases.
“The release of every 10 additional abductees will result in an additional day of respite,” it added. “The Israeli government, the IDF, and the security forces will continue the war to return all the abductees, complete the elimination of Hamas, and ensure that Gaza does not present any further threat to the State of Israel.”
The release will be in two stages with multiple stages in each phase. The first stage will be the release of 150 Palestinian teenage boys, none accused of murder, and women and children. The initial stage will take place in four phases with at least 10 hostages released in each phase and the Palestinian prisoners released only after the hostages are safe in Israeli custody.
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Hamas says that, while it had agreed to a cease-fire, “our fingers will remain on the trigger, and our victorious fighters will remain on the lookout to defend our people and repel the occupation.”
All Israeli security agencies signed off on the deal, including the IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad. Their support convinced some of the far-right members of the governing coalition to support it.
The government official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that certain conditions be part of the deal, including the potential release of further hostages after the four-day pause, a commitment by Hamas to identify and locate hostages held by other terror groups in the Strip, and a refusal to release Palestinian prisoners who have been convicted of murder.
Israel believes Hamas could potentially locate some 30 more Israeli mothers and children beyond the initial 50, and the halt in fighting would be extended by a day for each group of 10 more Israeli hostages who are located and freed, the government official said. Hamas is claiming it cannot immediately track down around 10 children taken from Israel during its shock October 7 attack.
The agreement also stipulates that the Red Cross will have access to all remaining hostages and will be able to supply them with any medicines they may need.
Netanyahu says that the war will continue until all of Israel's goals are achieved, including the release of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.
“We are at war, and the war will continue until all our goals are achieved,” he said, adding that the hostages’ return was a “sacred priority, and I am committed to it.”
“Before us is a difficult decision but the right one,” the prime minister added. “We will not rest until everyone is returned. The war has stages and the return of the hostages will have stages.”
Can Netanyahu continue the war after this pause? He may have every intention of doing so, but what if Hamas continues to release hostages in dribs and drabs, ten at a time? Four days could become two or three weeks. Meanwhile, Israel may not be bombing, but Hamas is certainly using the time to dig in even deeper.
But Israel's goal is not just to destroy Hamas. It's to prevent Hamas from ever being capable of mounting an attack like the one that happened on October 7. The prime minister still has the support of the people of Israel to achieve his war aims. If it's politically possible for the Netanyahu government to continue the war after most of the hostages are released, he will do so.
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