Qatar confirmed on Wednesday the agreement for a “humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip, with an exchange of hostages held in the territory for Palestinian prisoners, previously announced by Israel and Hamas, which have been at war since early October.
• Also read: Israeli government agrees to deal to release hostages
• Also read: The US expects Hamas to release “more than 50” hostages
“Qatar announces the success of its mediation efforts jointly with Egypt and the United States, which resulted in an agreement on a humanitarian pause,” the Gulf emirate’s foreign ministry said on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
“The start of this pause will be announced in the next 24 hours and will last four days, with the possibility of an extension,” he said.
Qatari diplomacy confirmed the details of the agreement previously announced by the belligerents: the release of “50 civilian women and children currently detained in the Gaza Strip” in exchange for the release of “a certain number of women and Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons.” .
“The number of released people will be increased in the further phases of the implementation of the agreement,” the Qatari ministry assured.
In addition, the humanitarian pause will also allow the entry of “a larger number of humanitarian convoys and emergency aid, including fuel,” as Gaza is under a total siege imposed by Israel, according to the same source.
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The Israeli government had previously given the green light to the deal, which called for the release of 50 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The agreement was confirmed by Hamas.
Qatar, which is close to both Hamas and the United States, has been hotly anticipated in negotiations in recent weeks even though the emirate does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel.
“We hope that this ceasefire will enable a global and lasting agreement that will put an end to the war machine (…) and lead to serious discussions with a view to a global and just peace process,” responded the first Qatari to X Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed am Abdelrahmane Al-Thani.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman told AFP that the hostages would be released within four days of the ceasefire taking effect.
“A certain number of hostages are released every day (…) and this number is expected to reach 50 on the fourth day,” said Majed Al-Ansari.
“If the Palestinians can commit to releasing more hostages by then, the ceasefire could be extended,” he added, stressing that “it will take some time to get all the civilians out” of the Gaza Strip and “it will be reviewed how this is done.” “goes.” many remain”.
According to Mr. Ansari, the agreement does not include the release of soldiers taken hostage and stipulates that there will be “no Israeli reconnaissance operation” during the transfer of the hostages.
He also emphasized that the cessation of hostilities could take “some time” before it was implemented on site.
According to Israeli authorities, around 240 people were kidnapped and 1,200 people were killed in the bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7 by the Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip.
In response to this unprecedented attack, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and relentlessly shelled the Gaza Strip, killing more than 14,000 people, according to the Hamas government.