Key mediator Qatar said on Wednesday that 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released in the first phase of a ceasefire aimed at ending the war on Palestinian territory.
Two sources close to Hamas previously told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, while an Israeli government spokesman said hundreds would be released.
Below are key details of the expected first phase of the deal according to Qatari, US, Israeli and Palestinian officials and media reports.
– Prisoner-hostage exchange –
Qatar said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza starting Sunday and an exchange of hostages and prisoners after 15 months of war.
Thirty-three Israeli hostages will be released in the first, 42-day phase of the deal that could become a “permanent ceasefire,” Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said.
The first to be freed would be “civilian women and female recruits, but also children, the elderly… sick civilians and the wounded,” he said.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Tuesday that Israel is “willing to pay a high price – in the hundreds” in exchange for the 33 hostages.
An anonymous Israeli official said that “several hundred terrorists” would be released in exchange for the hostages, with the final number depending on how many of the 33 hostages are still alive.
Two sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those with “long sentences”.
Sheikh Mohammed said the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for the Israeli hostages in the second and third phases will be “finalized” in the first 42 days.
The 33 are among 94 hostages held in Gaza since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the ongoing war. The total includes 34 prisoners that the Israeli army declared dead.
According to the Times of Israel, Israeli officials believe the 33 hostages are still alive, although confirmation from Hamas is still pending.
– Israeli positions in Gaza –
During the first, 42-day ceasefire, Israeli forces will withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza to “allow for the exchange of prisoners, as well as the exchange of remains and the return of the displaced persons,” the prime minister said of Qatar.
Negotiations on a second phase would begin on the “16th day” after the implementation of the first phase, an Israeli official said.
This phase would include the release of the remaining prisoners, including “male soldiers, men of military age and the bodies of slain hostages,” the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase.
Israeli forces were expected to remain up to 800 meters inside Gaza, stretching from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanun in the north, a source close to Hamas said.
Israeli forces will not fully withdraw from Gaza until “all hostages have returned,” the Israeli official said.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that Israel would allow the relocation of residents from southern Gaza to the north.
The source close to Hamas said Israeli forces would withdraw from the Netzarim corridor west to Salaheddin Road in the east, allowing displaced persons to return through an electronic checkpoint equipped with cameras.
“There will be no Israeli forces present, and Palestinian militants will be denied access to the checkpoint during the return of displaced persons,” he said.
– End of the war –
Joint mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt will monitor the ceasefire through a body based in Cairo, Sheikh Mohammed said, urging “calm” in Gaza before the deal takes effect.
There was “a clear mechanism to negotiate phases two and three,” Sheikh Mohammed added.
“We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement,” Qatar's prime minister said as he unveiled the deal.
Under the arrangements outlined by Qatar, details of phases two and three will be 'finalized' during the implementation of phase one.
US President Joe Biden said the unfinished second phase would bring a “permanent end to the war”.
Biden said phase two would include an exchange for the release of the remaining hostages still alive, including the male soldiers. Then all remaining Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza, the US president said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)