US brokered Hamas-Israel cease-fire deal that will release 3 Americans, including toddler
The U.S. has secured a deal for the release of 50 women and children held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a pause in fighting by Israel for at least four days.
Three Americans are among the hostages set for release including 3-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and two women, according to a senior Biden administration official.
The delicate agreement, approved Wednesday morning by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, follows weeks of intense hostage negotiations amid the 46-day Israel-Hamas war, with Qatar and Egypt acting as an intermediaries between the Biden administration, Israel and Hamas.
President Joe Biden confirmed the deal late Tuesday, vowing that his security team will not stop negotiating to bring Americans home.
"Jill (Biden) and I have been keeping all those held hostage and their loved ones close to our hearts these many weeks, and I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls, who have endured weeks of captivity and an unspeakable ordeal, will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented," Biden said.
He added, "Today's deal is a testament to the tireless diplomacy and determination of many dedicated individuals across the United States Government to bring Americans home."
Israel is set to release 150 Palestinian prisoners held as part of the deal. Israel has also agreed to extend the pause in fighting for one additional day for every 10 additional hostages Hamas releases.
It will take 24 hours for implementation of the deal to begin.
The deal is a massive breakthrough in diplomatic efforts to free the approximately 240 hostages militants kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack. Only four hostages, including two Americans, have been released so far. A fifth hostage was rescued by Israeli forces.
Still, nearly 200 hostages will remain captive in Gaza including some women and children even after the release of 50.
Ahead of his cabinet vote, Netanyahu made clear the pause in fighting will be temporary.
"We are at war, and we will continue the war,” he said. "We will continue until we achieve all our goals.” High among them, he said, is that “Gaza will not threaten Israel.” He said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas after the cease-fire expires.
Hamas, in a statement on Telegram, announced it agreed to the deal. "After difficult and complex negotiations for many days, we announce, with the help and success of God Almighty, that we have reached a humanitarian truce agreement," the Hamas statement said.
How the hostage deal came together
Families of hostages, including 10 Americans still in Gaza, have desperately awaited a deal as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas has intensified in northern Gaza.
The Oct. 20 release of two American hostages, Judith Raanan of Evanston, Ill. and her teenage daughter Natalie, served as a "pilot" for a larger hostage deal, the administration official said, giving the U.S. confidence that Qatar could deliver.
The structure of the deal came together last weekend after a series of fits and starts in negotiations including communications going completely dark with Hamas earlier in the week.
Initially, Hamas was refusing to provide identifying information for most of the hostages, according to the official. Biden told Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in a Nov. 12 phone call that Hamas needed to provide clear identifying information of hostages for any agreement.
Once Hamas agreed to identify the hostages, Biden told Netanyahu it was time to move forward on the deal.
The U.S. disclosed last week that it has information Hamas has been holding some hostages and concealing military operations below hospitals in Gaza.
Biden had indicated Tuesday a deal was imminent, telling reporters, "We’re now very close." Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said a "limited truce" could come in hours.
Hamas militants crashing across the border from Gaza on Oct. 7 killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took 240 people as hostages, Israeli authorities say. Israel's ensuing military campaign has killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says.