DOHA – After nearly seven weeks of war, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on Wednesday to a ceasefire in Gaza for four days and exchange of hostages.
Qatar played a mediation role for the first truce since Israel launched massive attacks on Gaza, targeting civilians, on October 7 after Hamas attacked Israel, claiming 1,200 lives. Since then, Israeli forces have skilled more than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Under the deal, Hamas would release at least 50 hostages captured during the October 7 attack and in exchange Israel would free at least 150 Palestinians.
Hamas political bureau member Mousa Abu Marzouk has told Al Jazeera that the truce is expected to start at 10am (08:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Marzouk said the pause in fighting would cover “all regions the of Gaza Strip”, adding that “there will be no warplanes or air traffic in Gaza from 10am to 4pm”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday night in a statement said 50 women and children would be released during these four days under the exchange deal.
“Israel’s government is committed to return all the hostages home. Tonight, it approved the proposed deal as a first stage to achieving this goal,” said the government statement.
The United Nations has welcomed the deal, calling it an import step. UN chief António Guterres added that the UN stood ready to “maximize” the positive humanitarian impact of the agreement.
“This is an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done,” Mr. Guterres said via a statement from his spokesperson Farhan Haq.
The development comes as UN humanitarians reiterated that they remain ready to seize the opportunity to ramp up lifesaving aid to the enclave.
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