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The Israeli government is finalizing a historic ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas, marking a critical step in the war from October 7, 2023. terrorist attack. Approved by the Israeli security cabinet, the agreement will take effect on Sunday and the first three hostages are expected to be freed. This agreement follows weeks of intense negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US President Biden and President-elect Trump for their role in advancing negotiations. Netanyahu thanked Biden for his commitment and praised Trump’s statement that Gaza should never again become a “haven of terrorism.”
Trump, in a podcast interview, claimed his involvement sped up the process, saying, “We changed course and we changed it quickly.”
Under the agreement, Hamas will release 33 hostages in the first phase, including women, children, the elderly and individuals with critical medical needs. They include Rumi Gonen, 24, kidnapped at the Nova music festival, and Shiri Bibas with her two young children, Ariel and baby Kfir. Families have been notified of the initial releases, while details of subsequent phases will be shared 24 hours before implementation.
ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE AND HOSTAGE RELEASE AGREEMENT: ‘AMERICANS WILL BE PART OF IT’
Netanyahu and his cabinet discuss hostages for a ceasefire deal in the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem. January 17, 2025. (Courtesy of GPO)
Of the three Americans believed to be alive in Gazaonly two, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, are included in the first phase. Sagui’s wife gave birth to their third child while he was in captivity. Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier, is not on the list.
Richard Goldberg, a senior FDD adviser and former Trump NSC official, told Fox News last week that leaving Alexander off the initial list “would be a huge strategic mistake.”
In exchange, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, including minors, women and people with health problems. Some of the notable prisoners include Nawal Abd Fattah, a 24-year-old convicted of attempting to stab an Israeli in 2020, and Ibrahim Zmar, a 15-year-old involved in a 2023 shooting in Jerusalem. Those convicted of leading major terrorist attacks remain excluded from the agreement.
A man runs in Jerusalem on Jan. 15, 2025, passing a billboard with portraits of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists. (Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)
The agreement stipulates that released prisoners cannot be arrested again on the same charges and are not required to sign any statements upon their release. Each woman or child held hostage corresponds to the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners, while the release of soldiers involves 30 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 serving long-term sentences.
CEASE-FIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS NEARS AMID CONCERNS ABOUT RE-ARMING TERRORIST GROUP IN GAZA
The agreement also facilitates humanitarian aid, allowing 600 trucks of supplies to enter Gaza daily. By the 22nd, displaced Gazans will be allowed to return to northern areas, and security inspections will be limited to vehicles under Qatari-Egyptian supervision. The Israeli army will reduce its presence in certain areas while maintaining control of key routes.
The release schedule begins with three hostages on the first day, followed by four on the seventh day. Over the next five weeks, groups of three hostages will be released weekly until the 35th. Between the 35th and 42nd, 12 more hostages will be released, including Avera Mengistu, held captive in Gaza for a decade, and Hisham al-Sayed, a mentally ill who crossed into Gaza on his own. own and has been detained there since before October 7.
This image from undated body camera video taken by a downed Hamas terrorist and released by the Israel Defense Forces shows a Hamas terrorist walking through a residential neighborhood at an undisclosed location in southern Israel. The Israeli military gathered a group of foreign correspondents on October 16, 2023 to screen a 40-minute reel of gruesome footage compiled from the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
Negotiations for the second phase will begin on the 16th of the first phase, focusing on the release of youth and soldiers and the return of the bodies. This phase will begin on the 43rd and last 42 days, with discussions directed at the remaining captives.
“When the second phase begins, there will be an exchange of the remaining live hostages, including male soldiers, and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza, making the temporary ceasefire permanent.” president biden he stated during a press conference on Wednesday. He also noted that the third phase would involve the return of the remains of hostages killed in captivity and the beginning of a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, speaking during a cabinet meeting, emphasized that in his conversations with both President Biden and President-elect TrumpOne point was made explicitly clear: if negotiations for the second phase of the agreement fail, Israel will resume military operations.
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IDF forces operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesperson’s Office)
For the families of the hostages, the agreement represents both hope and anguish. Ronen and Orna Neutra, whose Omer, American-Israeli son was assassinated by Hamas and whose body remains in Gaza, called the agreement bittersweet.
“It’s a difficult time. On the one hand, we are happy and excited for the families who will hopefully be able to see their loved ones after so long,” Orna Neutra said. fox news.
“We are very hopeful that this new administration can make the agreement a reality and will have all the seriousness necessary for the different parties in the region to comply with it. We trust President Trump that, you know, this is important to him and that it will be will make sure this happens.”
