israel cabinet approved the transaction He called for a ceasefire in the war with Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday, including the release of 50 hostages held by the terror group in the Gaza Strip.
The four-day ceasefire is the culmination of days of negotiations between Israel, Hamas, the United States and Qatar during a brutal six-week war.
The Israeli government announced that Hamas would release 50 of the approximately 240 hostages, starting with women and children, over four days. The ceasefire will be extended by an additional day for every 10 hostages released.
“The Israeli government has an obligation to return all hostages,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “The Israeli government, IDF, and security services will continue the war to bring all hostages home, complete the elimination of Hamas, and ensure that Gaza poses no new threat to the State of Israel.”
Negotiations over the deal among Israeli ministers lasted several hours until early Wednesday morning Israeli time, according to the Associated Press.
The Biden administration has not publicly discussed the details of the deal, but reports suggest some Palestinians held in Israeli prisons could be released. Given the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian aid shipments to the Gaza Strip are also expected to increase.
Given that Israel has agreed to the agreement, it is expected that Hamas will also need to announce the agreement before it can be activated. It is unclear when the agreement will be finalized.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting would continue even after the short-term ceasefire ends.
“We are at war and the war will continue,” he said in remarks translated from Hebrew. “We will continue the war until we achieve all of our goals: eliminate Hamas, return all abductees and missing persons, and ensure that there are no elements in the Gaza Strip that threaten Israel.”
The conflict began early last month after Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis in a brutal surprise attack on a border community. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the response air operations and ground invasion of Gaza left more than 11,100 Palestinians dead, including more than 4,600 children.
The rising number of civilian deaths in Gaza has raised concerns among Democrats, who are divided over whether to support a long-term ceasefire in the conflict. Progressive Democrats have been urging the Biden administration to press for a ceasefire for weeks, but Biden and the Israeli government have been reluctant to even discuss a deal until recently.
The Hill’s Laura Kelly contributed to this report.
This article was updated at 9:02 p.m.
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