Israeli cabinet approves deal for release of 50 hostages, offers temporary ceasefire

Jerusalem, The Gulf Observer: The Israeli cabinet has approved a plan that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says will bring a temporary ceasefire with resistance fighters in besieged Gaza and will see release of some Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli jails.

Hamas will free 50 Israeli captives over the course of four days, during which there will be a pause in the war, according to Israeli prime minister’s office.

Hamas and Israel agreed to four-day truce in war, said Hamas in statement welcoming the “humanitarian truce”, adding it will release 50 Israeli captives in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children languishing in Israeli jails.

“The provisions of this agreement were formulated according to the vision of the resistance and its determinants that aim to serve our people and enhance their steadfastness in the face of aggression,” a Hamas statement said.

Truce deal will allow hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid to enter all parts of Gaza, Hamas’ statement added. Three Americans are expected to be among at least 50 captives to be released, a senior US official said.

The approval sees the first truce of war in which Israeli bombardments have flattened swathes of besieged Gaza, killed 14,000 civilians in the tiny, densely populated enclave and left about two-thirds of its 2.3 million people homeless, according to authorities in Gaza.