An agreement on the release of the hostages was reached between Israel and Hamas during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Hostage and prisoner exchanges could begin on Thursday, November 23, after the start of a four-day truce.
An agreement has been reached. Israel and Hamas have agreed to release some of the hostages held by the Islamist organization in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a four-day truce. This break in the fighting could begin this Thursday, November 23 at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. in Paris) according to statements by a member of the Hamas political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, to the Al Jazeera channel. Israel has yet to confirm the schedule.
The details of the agreement reached on the night of November 21-22 are not known, but the two sides appear to have agreed on the release of at least 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners . Only women and children should be released on either side. The releases could be spread over several days, small groups by small groups. In each wave, 10 Israeli hostages would be exchanged for 30 Palestinian prisoners, according to the few elements provided to the media. Israel has already released a list of 300 names of prisoners, most of them affiliated with Hamas, 128 of whom are minors.
These hostage exchanges spread over time explain the four-day truce also provided for in the agreement. The end of the fighting should make it possible to guarantee the safety of the hostages, but also the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Hamas says it is expecting “hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid, medical aid and fuel” and hopes that aid can be delivered “to all areas of the Gaza Strip, without exception.” During this truce, the Red Cross could be authorized to visit the unreleased hostages to provide them with care if necessary and ensure their state of health. The truce could be extended as the Israeli government indicated that “the release of ten additional hostages will result in an additional day of break.” The duration of the break is, however, limited to a maximum of 10 days, specifies Time of Israel.
If Hamas speaks of a “ceasefire on the part of both parties” and a “cessation of all military actions” by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, Israel prefers to speak of “a lull” and “a cessation of all military actions” by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. pause in the fighting”. But for both, this truce will only be temporary before the resumption of fighting already planned by both camps.
Neither Hamas nor Israel have specified the list of hostages who will be released, only the American authorities have announced the presence of three American nationals among those released. France, for its part, refuses to put forward a figure “out of caution”, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs says she “hopes” that there will be French people among the freed hostages. Catherine Colonna assures that the government is working “hard” to obtain the release of certain French people, three nationals could be released according to a source close to the matter cited by BFMTV. “Eight compatriots” are still missing, “some of whom, with certainty, were taken hostage,” she added.
The minister and Head of State Emmanuel Macron welcomed the conclusion of an agreement between Israel and Hamas, like a whole part of the international community. US President Joe Biden said he was “extraordinarily satisfied” with the agreement. Several EU members followed in their wake, the EU which itself welcomes the agreement on the humanitarian truce, but wishes to “take advantage of this pause in order to organize a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza” and “step up” the sending of aid. The agreement, however, is far from unanimously supported by the Israeli government or the civilian population, with some seeing this agreement concluded under Hamas’ conditions as a new victory for the Islamist group. The Association of Victims of Terrorism of Almagor announces that it is filing an appeal before the Supreme Court of Israel to have all the details of the agreement shared, in particular those on “the cessation of the collection of intelligence, as well as the delivery of fuel and other supplies that could help Hamas carry out terrorist operations” against Israel, the Time of Israel reports.
A break in the fighting must be announced for the morning of Thursday, November 23, according to Hamas. But the bombings and ground clashes are still raging on November 22, the spokesperson for the Israeli army affirms on social networks that “IDF forces continue to operate in the Gaza Strip to destroy terrorist infrastructure, eliminate terrorists and locate weapons. The IDF also claims to have destroyed 400 wells and tunnel entrances in Gaza. At Al-Shifa hospital, the Israeli army is still present on site, but the last patients were evacuated this Wednesday by the Red Crescent.
Despite the announcement of a truce, both camps remain on alert because they both announced the resumption of war following the truce and hostage exchanges. “The Israeli government, Israeli army and security forces will continue the war to return all abductees, eliminate Hamas and ensure that there is no further threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” writes the Israeli government in its press release. While Hamas confirms that its hands “will remain on the trigger and that our triumphant battalions will remain on the lookout”, promising to lead the fight for “the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital”.
The toll of the war taking place in Gaza is difficult to establish, as the figures provided by Hamas cannot be independently verified and therefore distinguished from propaganda. According to the latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health released Monday, November 20, 13,300 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, including more than 5,600 children, since the start of the conflict on October 7. The Palestinian movement also reported more than 31,000 injured. Asked about this toll, the Pentagon spokesperson admitted that, regarding civilian casualties in Gaza, “it must be counted in the thousands.”
On the Israeli side, the death toll from the Hamas attack was revised downwards on Friday, November 10, from 1,400 to 1,200 deaths. According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after identification of the bodies, it appeared that many of them belonged to Hamas men. Before that, the Israeli army had also clarified that 46 soldiers had died since the attack on October 7, according to its latest report.
40 French people were killed in Israel during Hamas attacks on October 7, according to the latest report communicated by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on Monday November 6. It also has eight nationals missing. “It is now confirmed that some of them are hostages of Hamas,” the government said on November 6. Paris ensures that it is doing everything possible to save the hostages and repatriate nationals who wish to do so. The Quai d’Orsay announced on November 14 that a total of 112 French people have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip to date. “This assessment marks the end of a first phase of our evacuation operations, which enabled almost all of our compatriots wishing to leave Gaza to do so,” the ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
