Israel and Hamas have accepted an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, a source close to the discussions announced to AFP this Wednesday, January 15, after days of intense diplomatic efforts in Doha , putting an end to several months of blockage.
“An agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages was reached following the meeting of the Qatari Prime Minister (Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani) with Hamas negotiators and, separately, with negotiators Israelis, in his office,” said this source, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
“We have an agreement on the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released soon,” confirmed American President-elect Donald Trump this Wednesday on his Truth Social network.
An exchange between prisoner hostages
According to two sources close to Hamas, 33 hostages should be released during a first phase, in exchange for a thousand Palestinians detained by Israel. The hostages would be released “in groups, starting with children and women.” The Israeli government confirmed on Tuesday that it was seeking the release of “33 hostages” during the first stage and was prepared to release “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners.
An Israeli official, however, warned Tuesday that Israel would “not leave Gaza until all the hostages have returned, the living and the dead.”
A few days before Donald Trump’s return to the White House, indirect discussions intensified with a view to a truce associated with the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory since the bloody Hamas attack against Israel on the 7th. October 2023.