Israel, Hamas agree to temporary cease-fire, hostage release deal including freeing 3 Americans
Fox News
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary cease-fire and a hostage swap, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday.
"The release of every ten additional hostages will result in an additional day of respite. The Israeli government, the IDF and the security forces will continue the war in order to return all the hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas and to ensure that Gaza does not renew any threat to the State of Israel."
The cease-fire was officially announced hours after Israeli and Hamas leaders said Tuesday that negotiations were in their final stages. Qatari negotiators helped broker the agreement, which would take effect at 10 a.m. local time – 3 a.m. ET – Thursday, according to Egypt's state-run Qahera TV channel.
Under the deal, Israel's military has agreed to temporarily stop its pursuit of Hamas — including its ground invasion of Gaza and its airstrikes — for humanitarian purposes. Also, Hamas has agreed to release dozens of hostages in tandem with Israel agreeing to release Palestinian prisoners on a 3-to-1 ratio. Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported Hamas leaders would release one hostage for every three Palestinians that Israel releases from its prisons.