Israel and Hamas reached an agreement Tuesday to free dozens of hostages held by the terrorist group in return for a temporary ceasefire and the release of more than 100 women and minors under Israeli custody.
The deal comes after nearly seven weeks of violence that erupted when more than 1,200 people in Israel were massacred on Oct. 7, with about 240 others kidnapped by Hamas.
Since the terrorist attack, Israel has waged an all-out war in Gaza through airstrikes and ground incursions, with Hamas-run Palestinian authorities estimating the current death toll at more than 12,000 people.
While the deal will create the first major ceasefire in the war and allow families to reunite with their loved ones after weeks of anguish, it will not bring an end to the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The hostage deal will effectively see 50 women and children held captive in Gaza freed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and health officials, according to Qatari officials who helped broker the deal.
In return for each hostage freed, the Jewish state agreed to release three Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons — totaling 150 people.
The hostages will be released during a four-day ceasefire, with Israel agreeing to extend the “humanitarian pause” an extra day in exchange for another 10 hostages released.
The deal will also see more humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and fuel, enter Gaza after all the hospitals in the north were rendered inoperable.
The deal and truce is set to take effect on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time, or 3 a.m. EST.
The list of which women and children are being freed by Hamas has yet to be published.
Despite previous reports that the hostages released would only include Israeli citizens, officials confirmed Tuesday that those with dual citizenship are included in the deal.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
President Biden announced Tuesday night that the deal “should bring home additional American hostages.”
US officials have said they were hoping that Abigail Mor Idan, a 3-year-old American girl whose parents were killed Oct. 7, would be among the children included in the negotiations.
The breakthrough deal came together after weeks of negotiations that involved Israel, Hamas, the US and Egypt. The talks were led by Qatar, which has previously worked with America to free hostages in the Middle East.
Israel War Update
Get the most important developments in the region, globally and locally.
While Israel has long rejected a ceasefire until Hamas frees all its hostages, the Jewish state came to an agreement following intense hours-long cabinet meetings on Tuesday.
The deal ultimately fell to a vote, with the majority of Israel’s leadership agreeing to the terms hammered out in the negotiations.
Netanyahu and his administration had been facing mounting pressure to accept a deal from the families of the hostages, as well as from the world over reports of the civilian casualties in Gaza.
The deal between Israel and Hamas will see the first major release of hostages after Hamas previously let four people go for “humanitarian” reasons.
American hostages Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her 18-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, of Illinois, were the first hostages freed last month after they were kidnapped from Nahal Oz on Oct. 7.
The Chicago-area mom and daughter have since returned to the US after being held captive by Hamas for 13 days.
Following the Americans’ release, Hamas also freed Nurit Yitzhak and Yochved Lifshitz, two Israeli citizens in their 80s.
Qatari officials have said that the deal between Israel and Hamas was the first step in seeing all the hostages in Gaza freed.
But despite the agreement to a multi-day ceasefire, Israeli officials have said it is merely a temporary pause in the war, which will continue.
“We are at war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said in a recorded message at the start of the meeting to vote on the deal “To destroy Hamas, return all our hostages and ensure that no entity in Gaza can threaten Israel.”
Intelligence efforts will continue even during the lull so the army is ready once fighting resumes, he said.
Should either side fall through on the agreement, the war will resume in the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas and the IDF have been fighting a bloody campaign concentrated in northern Gaza, where hospitals and refugees have been caught in the crossfire.
If the deal falls through, it would ultimately impact evacuations and humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza and to the more than 1.7 million people displaced by the violence.