4-day truce begins in Israel-Hamas war, sets stage for release of dozens of Gaza-held hostages

Gaza Strip, November 24

A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early on Friday, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The halt in fighting promised some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ October 7 attack that triggered the war.

The cease-fire kicked off at 7 am local time (0500 GMT) and is to last at least four days. During this period, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on October 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Both sides will release women and children first. Israel said the truce would be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

The truce-for-hostages deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators. If it holds, it would mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago.

The agreement raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has levelled vast swaths of Gaza, fuelled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.

Israel has pushed back against such speculation, saying it was determined to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted as telling troops on Thursday that their respite will be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months.

A first group of 13 women and children held by Hamas will be freed on Friday afternoon, according to Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman of the Qatari foreign ministry. Three Palestinian prisoners, also women and minors, are to be released for every freed hostage.

Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offences.