Hamas announces 4-day truce agreement, prisoners exchange deal

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen + Agencies
22 Nov 2023 05:19
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The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas, announces it has reached a mediated deal for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

Relatives and supporters of Palestinian prisoners stage a sit-in in front of the Red Cross in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestine, on November 21, 2023. (AFP)

A four-day humanitarian truce has been reached between Hamas and the Israeli occupation under Qatari and Egyptian mediation, the Palestinian Resistance movement announced in a statement early on Wednesday morning.

Hamas said that the agreement was reached following difficult and complex indirect negotiations.

The agreement involved a prisoners exchange deal and a number of clauses that will ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into the entire Gaza Strip "without exception".

In Detail

On the military level

The cessation of all hostilities from both sides.
A halt of all Israeli military actions in all areas of the Gaza Strip.
The cessation of Israeli military vehicle movement in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military overflights in the southern Gaza Strip will be halted for four consecutive days.
Israeli military overflights in the northern Gaza Strip will be limited to six hours daily.

On the humanitarian level

Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian, relief, and medical aid will reach all areas of the Gaza Strip without exception.
Fuel deliveries will be allowed into the Gaza Strip.

On the prisoners exchange deal

50 captives will be released from the Gaza Strip.
In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.

Importantly, released prisoners from both sides will only include women and individuals under the age of 19.

Moreover, Hamas revealed that the occupation agreed to refrain from targeting or arresting any individuals throughout the truce's timeframe. The Resistance movement also said that the freedom of movement will be ensured for all Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, which connects the districts of the Gaza Strip.

The movement reiterated that the terms of the agreement were formulated and achieved according to the vision and objectives of the Resistance, which aims to serve its people and aid their resilience in the face of the Israeli occupation.

PIJ party to the deal

Later, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement confirmed that it would be party to the partial prisoner swap deal.

The enemy thought they could unconditionally restore their captives, the PIJ said in a statement. These delusions were crushed, they added, after their failure to break the will of our people and our resistance.

Affirming their steadfastness in regards to their prior stance, the PIJ noted that all non-civilian captives (Israeli soldiers) will only be released if all Palestenian prisoners are liberated.

Israeli government approves the agreement

Earlier, a statement was released by the office of the occupation's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the government had approved the proposed deal.

The Prime Minister's Office hoped that more of its captives held by the Palestinian Resistance be released, saying that it would extend the pause in fighting for one day for each 10 captives released.

"Israel's government is committed to returning all the [captives]. Tonight, it approved the proposed deal as a first stage to achieving this goal," the statement read.

In the same context, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that the deal will include a humanitarian pause over "four to five days at least," adding that there is potential for extra days to be added to the original deal if more captives are released.

The US official said that the "pause" will enable a surge in humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.

On the Northern Front, the official said that the Biden administration hopes that the agreement will lead to a pause in military activity near the Lebanese-Palestinian border. The official revealed that the clauses of the agreement will be activated a day after the deal is reached.

"Even if we get an agreement tonight or tomorrow morning, the implementation would not start until 24 hours after that," the official explained. "If we had an agreement tonight, the implementation would probably be Thursday morning Israel time."