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Israel To Release 1,000 Palestenian Prisoners For 94 Hostages In Gaza Deal
Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal which could halt the war in Gaza and see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the US and mediators Qatar have said.
It would be the most dramatic breakthrough in 15 months of war, which began when the armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
Details of the Gaza deal reportedly approved by both sides have not yet been announced.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were still several unresolved clauses, which he hoped would be finalised on Wednesday evening.
A completed deal would see the war in Gaza stop and an exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.
Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some jailed for years, in return for the hostages.
How could the ceasefire work?
This ceasefire is expected to happen in three stages, once the deal is announced.
And while both sides are now said to have agreed to it, Israel’s security cabinet and government will need to approve the deal before it can be implemented.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday should it be approved.
Here is what could be in the Israel-Gaza deal.
First stage
The first stage would last six weeks and see “a full and complete ceasefire”, US President Joe Biden said as he confirmed a deal had been reached on Wednesday.
“A number of hostages” held by Hamas, including women, the elderly and the sick, would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said.
He did not specify how many hostages would be released during this first stage – but Qatar’s Al Thani told a news conference earlier in the evening that it would be 33.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer previously said most but not all of the 33 hostages expected to be exchanged, also including children, were thought to still be alive.
Three hostages would be released straight away, a Palestinian official previously told the BBC, with the rest of the exchange taking place over the six weeks.
During this stage, Israeli troops would pull out of “all” populated areas of Gaza, Biden said, while “the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza”.
Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have had to leave their homes because of Israeli evacuation orders, Israeli strikes and fighting on the ground.
There would also be a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, with hundreds of lorries allowed in each day.
The Palestinian official previously said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire.
Biden said the ceasefire would persist “as long as the negotiations continue”.
Second stage
Stage two would be “a permanent end to the war,” according to Biden.
The remaining living hostages, including men, would be released in return for more Palestinian prisoners.
Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release overall, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more.
An Israeli official previously told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank.
There would also be a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Third stage
The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something which could take years – and the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies.
Source: BBC
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