The Israeli government said in a statement late Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have approved a deal for the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas. The news came after Netanyahu convened his war cabinet to discuss the deal following recent negotiations.
The statement read: “The Government of Israel is obligated to return home all of the hostages. Tonight, the Government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held. The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.”
CBS News confirmed that the proposed deal, brokered by the U.S. and Qatar, would allow for an initial group of 50 hostages held by Hamas to be released in phases during pauses in the fighting in Gaza. The proposed deal will include a limited pause in the fighting for four or five days, and during the pauses, overheard surveillance will be halted.
Netanyahu said President Biden had joined the effort to improve the outline of the deal: “In recent days, I have spoken with our friend, U.S. President Joe Biden, and I requested his intervention in order to improve the outline that will be presented to you. Indeed, it has been improved to include more hostages and at a lower cost. These talks have been productive. President Biden joined in the effort and I thank him for it.”
The Israeli government said that along with the IDF and Israel’s security services, they would continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages and “complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”
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