Israel, Hamas agree to truce, 50 hostages to be released

Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce that would see the Palestinian group release dozens of hostages taken on October 7, both sides announced.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the accord after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told reticent ministers this was a “difficult decision but it’s a right decision.”

A government spokesman said that under the agreement, at least 50 Israeli and foreign hostages would be released — women and children — in return for a four-day “lull” in military operations.

For every 10 additional hostages released, there would be an extra day of truce.

Hamas released a statement welcoming the “humanitarian truce,” which it said would also see 150 Palestinians released from Israeli jails.

The truce offers Gaza residents the prospect of a desperately desired, if brief, pause after nearly seven weeks of total war.

Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group, had earlier said the truce would include a complete ceasefire on the ground and a pause in Israeli air operations over southern Gaza.

The Israeli Cabinet’s approval was one of the last stumbling blocks to the agreement coming into effect.

Qatar had helped to broker the talks.