Israel hostages latest: Hamas agree to release fifty women and children from Gaza after ceasefire deal

A deal was agreed upon overnight for a four-day ceasefire in Gaza while roughly 50 hostages will be released from the enclave in exchange for roughly 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

But included in the deal are additional elements designed to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel will allow roughly 300 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day, according to one report. This would amount to a significant increase; in the previous weeks, less than a dozen have been permitted to enter the enclave via the Egyptian Rafah crossing.

More fuel will also be permitted into the enclave during the pause in fighting, according to one senior Israeli official, though it is unclear how much and to whom it will be given.

Previously, any fuel supplies have been handed only to United Nations organisations for fear of Hamas using it for their own ends. Overcrowded hospitals in Gaza have said previously that the lack of fuel is preventing them from performing life-saving surgeries.

The displacement of Palestinians in recent weeks has been the largest since 1948, the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees has said – warning of “an exodus under our watch”.

“We have just witnessed over the last few weeks the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1948,” UNRWA said.

“The scale of destruction and loss is staggering. It is an exodus under our watch. The younger generation, forced to live through traumas of ancestors or parents.”

Our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta has this analysis:

Around half a dozen countries, most with nationals who were kidnapped in the attack on 7 October, have been involved in the negotiations, which have been taking place with Qatar as the main interlocutor between Israel and Hamas and the US playing an active role.

The deal is basically the same as one which had been discussed in the past – return of a certain number of women, children and those ill among the 240 hostages who were seized in exchange for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.

The agreement which was said to have come very close to being concluded last month was for around 50 of the hostages being freed in return for about 110 Palestinian inmates. The terms stipulated a temporary ceasefire for this to take place, with a period of three days mooted.

But it fell apart as it neared the last hurdle. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that all the hostages being held must be freed, and this would come about, he insisted, through Hamas feeling pressure enforced by pulverising military action.

At the time the Israeli cabinet appeared to have consensus in this stance. But divisions began to emerge, and the current agreement takes place amid severe discord in Netanyahu’s cabinet and angry clashes between ministers and families of those taken.

The process towards a deal has been “gut-wrenching” – and it has been long and fraught, a senior US administration official told The Independent.

Many attempted agreements have “fallen at the last hurdle”, according to those close to the negotiations.

Among the stumbling blocks has been Israel’s concerns that a ceasefire will be used by Hamas militants to regroup. The other issue is the location and access to the hostages.

The Independent understands that Israel believes dozens are being directly held by Hamas, but there could be some 150 hostages being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant groups in the strip.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the intervention of US president Joe Biden had helped to improve the tentative agreement so that it included more hostages and fewer concessions to Hamas.

There have been splits in the Israeli cabinet over a deal – with some of Mr Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners opposing some of the terms of the deal. But in the end it was not enough to stop it being agreed.

There will also be an exchange of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons but details were not yet finalised, The Independent understands.

There are approximately 7,000 Palestinians held in Israeli detention, including around 2,000 who are held without charge or trial, according to the Palestinian monitoring group Addameer – which alleges that there were 200 child prisoners and 62 women prisoners as of 6 November.

Around 500-700 Palestinian children  – those aged 12-17 – are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system each year, with stone throwing the most common charge, according to local child rights organisation Defence for Children Palestine.

A senior US administration official told The Independent the text of the deal runs to five or six pages and that the pause in military activity contained within would result in “a real surge in humanitarian supplies”.

The ceasefire is expected to be used as a pathway to work on further negotiations and the release of more hostages.

This could be scuppered if either side violates terms of the truce.

The deal can be expanded to see the release of 85 women and children in total, diplomatic sources told The Independent.

Sources said Israel is willing to extend the much-needed humanitarian ceasefire by a day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas.

The first release of hostages is expected on Thursday.

Fifty hostages, including dozens of children, will be released from captivity in Gaza after a deal was reached between Israel and Hamas – marking a major breakthrough after weeks of fraught negotiations.

Under the agreement, which was brokered by Qatar and the US, at least 50 Israeli civilians – including the children and their mothers – will be released via Egypt during a four-day pause in hostilities.

Our international correspondent Bel Trew has the full report here: