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Israel’s government and Hamas announced they have agreed to a deal that could see at least 50 hostages held by Hamas freed.
The deal, which is not yet final and could be appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court, also calls for a four-day truce as hostages, all women and children, are freed, Israel’s government said.
“The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause,” Israel’s government said.
The deal also includes the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, officials said. Hamas said it also includes aid and fuel entering Gaza.
Israel’s government said it “will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”
A U.S. senior administration official said that two Americans and a 3-year-old child could be released in the batch of 50 hostages. Israel has said that militant groups took around 240 hostages when they attacked the country on Oct. 7.
The fighting has been going on over eight weeks. The Israel Defense Forces estimate 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, with 236 people still held hostage in Gaza.
Gaza health officials say the death toll there has surpassed 14,000 after weeks of Israeli attacks. United Nations and other officials have called the situation in Gaza a humanitarian crisis.
Baby Anas, rescued from Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, feels warmth of mother’s embrace
RAFAH, Gaza Strip— At first, Warda Sbeta couldn’t find her newborn son, Anas, among the 31 tiny babies who had just arrived in southern Gaza after being evacuated from Gaza City’s devastated Al Shifa Hospital. She hadn’t seen him for 45 days.
She and her husband frantically checked the list of names provided by the head of the neonatal unit where the babies were being cared for, at a hospital in Rafah, and there it was, Anas’s name in black and white.
“I felt alive again, grateful to God that we now have our baby safely in our care,” said Sbeta, speaking at the hospital as she watched over her sleeping son, whom she had dressed in a light blue sleepsuit and matching hat.
Sbeta smiled as she held him in her hands and her husband helped her to wrap him in a white swaddling blanket with pink ribbons and a hood. Once he was bundled up, she cradled him against her chest.
Sbeta, 32, has seven older children, and the family, whose home was in Gaza City before the war, is now living in a school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, that has become a shelter for hundreds of people displaced from the north of the strip.
Sbeta was offered the option of being evacuated to Egypt with Anas so he could receive further medical care, but she did not want to leave her husband and her other children.
“I can’t leave them with only their father. He won’t be able to look after them. So I was obliged to refuse this offer,” she said.
Anas was one of only three out of the 31 premature babies rescued from Al Shifa who stayed behind in Gaza. Of the other two, one was unidentified, according to doctors at the Rafah hospital. They did not give information about the third baby.
Blinken: U.S. ‘will not rest’ as long as Hamas holds people hostage
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hailing an agreement between Israel and Hamas under which Hamas could free 50 civilian hostages it is holding in Gaza, but he said more needs to be done.
“While this deal marks significant progress, we will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza,” Blinken said in a statement.
Blinken said that “the United States welcomes the deal to release 50 hostages, including American citizens,” who have been held by Hamas.
A senior administration official said after the announcement of the agreement that two American women and a 3-year-old child could be among those released.
Israel would also release Palestinians held in its prisons under the agreement, officials said. A pause in the fighting would be for four days while the hostages are freed.
Biden thanks leaders of Qatar and Egypt after Israel-Hamas agreement
Biden thanked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi late Tuesday following announcements of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release some hostages.
Biden said in a statement that the leaders of Qatar and Egypt provided “critical leadership and partnership in reaching this deal.”
Biden also thanked Netanyahu and his government. The agreement is for Hamas to release at least 50 hostages in return for a four-day pause in the fighting and for Israel to release some Palestinians imprisoned in its jails, officials said.
Biden said the deal, which is not yet final because of Israeli law about the rights of victims to appeal in prisoner exchanges, has a “provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza.”
He said he and first lady Jill Biden "I have been keeping all those held hostage and their loved ones close to our hearts these many weeks, and I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls, who have endured weeks of captivity and an unspeakable ordeal, will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented."
Qatar announces Israel-Hamas agreement
Qatar has formally announced an agreement between Israel and Hamas that includes a pause in fighting and the release of 50 women and children held hostage by Hamas.
“The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours and last for four days, subject to extension,” Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Qatar said the 50 will be released “in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, the number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.”
Qatar said that the U.S. and Egypt were involved in the joint mediation.
Three Americans, including child, might be released in hostage deal
The tentative deal in which Hamas would free 50 hostages could include two American women and a 3-year-old, a senior U.S. administration official said.
Israel’s government and Hamas said they had agreed to the plan, which also would include a pause in fighting and the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails, but the deal is not yet final.
Ten Americans are unaccounted-for after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, the U.S. official said. Two American women and a toddler could be part of the group of 50 released, the official said.
The agreement calls for Hamas to release 50 women and children. Israeli officials have said Hamas took around 240 hostages when it attacked the country.
White House spent weeks working hostage deal, administration official says
The White House got word that Hamas initially agreed to the parameters of a deal that would release a large number of hostages in October but backed out the next day after Israel launched its ground invasion in Gaza, a senior administration official said.
U.S. officials debated with Israeli counterparts about whether to delay the invasion, but Israeli officials determined that terms weren’t firm enough because Hamas had not provided proof of life, the official said. Negotiations went on for the next three weeks, with messages being passed from Gaza to Doha, Qatar, or Cairo and back.
Israeli and U.S. officials agreed that all women and children would have to be released in the first phase, the official said, but Hamas agreed only to 50 hostages and wouldn’t give identifying information. It wasn’t until Nov. 12 that Hamas provided a list of names.
Talks broke off once again days later, with Hamas taking issue with the IDF’s invasion of Al-Shifa hospital, the official said. Biden spoke to the emir of Qatar last week and insisted the deal had to be finalized.
A representative for the White House flew to Doha on Saturday to review the details of the potential deal before going to Cairo to speak with an Egyptian official who brought news that Hamas had agreed to nearly all the terms, according to the White House source.
Minor changes were made, with Israeli approval, and the message was sent Sunday that it was the final offer, said the source, who said Hamas agreed two days later.
Hamas says deal would allow access for aid and fuel deliveries
Hamas announced a deal to release 50 hostages in exchange for a truce and the release of 150 people held in Israeli prisons.
The deal also includes a cease-fire and access for humanitarian aid and fuel into Gaza, Hamas said.
Hamas said 50 women and children would be released. Israeli officials said 240 hostages were taken when Hamas attacked Israel.
Israel’s government had said that it agreed to the outlines of a deal but that Hamas also has to agree.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza from the air, and it has launched a ground operation in Gaza against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks. Thousands of civilians have been killed, according to health officials there.
U.S. launches more airstrikes against Iran-backed militants in Iraq
U.S. fighter jets conducted airstrikes on two facilities in Iraq used by an Iranian-proxy militia Wednesday morning local time, a U.S. defense official said.
"Initial evaluation” of the strikes against two Kataib Hezbollah targets “indicated that U.S. forces successfully destroyed the intended facilities,” the official said. “Additionally, we can confirm the presence of Kataib Hezbollah personnel. We’re unable to provide a casualty assessment at this time.”
U.S. Central Command described the attacks as “discrete, precision strikes.”
The strikes were a response to attacks “against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq by Iran and Iran-backed groups,” the official said, including an attack on al-Asad air base in Iraq with a close-range ballistic missile. “The United States does not seek conflict and has no desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iran-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop.”
“We will not hesitate to take further measures to protect our people, if necessary.”
Earlier, a U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked militants and a vehicle allegedly responsible for the ballistic missile attack. U.S. officials said the strike killed several fighters.
Israel announces outline of hostage deal but says war will continue
Israel’s government announced it has approved the outline of a deal to free dozens of people held hostage by Hamas, but it said it still plans to eliminate the group.
At least 50 hostages, all women and children, would be released over four days under the plan, during which there would be a pause in the fighting, the Israeli government said.
"The release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause," the government said.
The statement also says the war will continue.
“The Government of Israel, the IDF and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” the government said.
The statement does not mention Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, which had been said to be part of the deal.
In prisoner exchanges, there is also a 24-hour period in which victims or their families can appeal to the Supreme Court, a spokesman for the prime minister's office said.
Israeli government approves deal to secure release of some hostages
Israel’s government has approved a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, the prime minister’s office said.
The decision on the outline of the hostage deal was passed by a majority of votes.
There is a still a 24-hour period in which the families of victims of people in Israeli jails could appeal to the Supreme Court. The deal is not final until that period concludes.
A senior Israeli official earlier today said that the government would be voting on a tentative agreement for the release of 50 women and children held by Hamas. Israel would release 150 Palestinian women and child prisoners as part of the deal.
The official said none of the Palestinians being held is accused of killing Israelis, but of playing support roles.
Netanyahu said earlier that the agreement also calls for a pause in fighting.