It appears Israel has reached a deal with Hamas for a temporary cease-fire in return for the release of some of the hostages, Arutz Sheva reports. The deal is expected to go into effect Thursday, with 12 Israelis being freed every day. All the children and 13 moms are said to be involved in the deal. The right-wing parties oppose the deal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may go ahead and pass it with the votes of the left-wing parties.
“A political official presented this evening (Tuesday) the outline for the deal to release dozens of hostages from Hamas captivity and emphasizes that “all the security forces, the Shin Bet and the Mossad are in favor of the outline and also the entire war cabinet is united in favor of the proposal, ” Arutz Sheva writes.
“As part of the deal, which is expected to go into effect on Thursday, 12 Israeli hostages will be released every day during the four days of the agreed-upon truce. In the event that Hamas agrees to additional truces – for each day of the truce, ten additional hostages will be released.”
The deal would include the release of 40 children and 13 women in exchange for a five-day ceasefire, JNS reports. The Cabinet will meet at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Eastern) to approve the agreement with Hamas.
The halt in the fighting could be extended for additional days in exchange for 10 further releases per extra day, the source said. Israel believes Hamas may prove able to locate and release up to 30 further Israeli women and children.
The source said the Israeli side was able to achieve significant concessions by not caving to pressure from the Biden Regime and “international community” immediately: “prisoners convicted of murder will not be included in the deal, fuel will be brought into the Gaza Strip only on the days of the ceasefire and there will be no movement of Gaza citizens from the south of the Gaza Strip to the north under the terms of the ceasefire.”
Sounds like a good deal. #BringThemHome pic.twitter.com/AtEHdyCwg2
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) November 21, 2023
The deal will reportedly also include the release of some 150 to 300 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday that the government will need to make “difficult decisions” with regard to the hostages held by Hamas.
“We are moving step by step toward the total defeat of Hamas and getting closer to bringing the hostages home,” Gallant said following an assessment with military officials at the IDF Gaza Division base.
“I think we will all have to make difficult, important decisions in the coming days,” he added. “There is not a moment throughout this campaign — 45 days — that I don’t think about the hostages.”
The Religious Zionism party headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says it cannot agree to the deal , the Times of Israel reports. In a statement to the press, the party called the deal as “bad for Israel’s security, bad for the hostages, and bad for the soldiers of the IDF.”
“The only way to return all the hostages is by continuing the unceasing military pressure on Hamas until total victory,” Religious Zionism said in its statement.
“Religious Zionism will stand strong for the continuing of the war until the total destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages, and the elimination of the threat posed by Gaza to Israeli citizens,” it concludes.
The rulie far-right Otzma Yehudit party also says it “will oppose” the burgeoning hostage deal, pushing instead for the Israel Defense Forces to continue its military pressure on Hamas, Times of Israel reported. “Hamas’s agreement to the deal indicates that the IDF is carrying out an effective strike, it is necessary to continue striking the enemy and bring it to a deal under conditions dictated by Israel and not under the very problematic conditions that endanger IDF forces and [makes] distinguishment among the abductees,” a statement from the party reads.
