Israel and Hamas hostage deal: What do we know?

What has been agreed?

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a four-day pause in fighting in Gaza to allow the release of 50 hostages held in the strip in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Separately, Hamas said hundreds of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid trucks would be allowed to enter Gaza during the temporary truce.

Fighting continued in Gaza after the deal was announced. Qatar, which mediated the agreement, said the exact start of the cease-fire was to be announced within 24 hours.

"The number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement," the Foreign Ministry in Qatar wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

If successful, it'll be the first break in the six-week Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 13,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Israel launched the operation in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, which killed 1,200 people in southern Israel.

During the terror attacks, the militants took an estimated 240 Israelis and foreigners hostage.

Why now?

The agreement came amid mounting pressure from the hostages' families and the international community.

A majority of the Israeli war Cabinet voted in favor of the agreement, according to the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

"The government of Israel is obligated to return home all of the hostages," Netanyahu's office wrote on X.

It comes after weeks of talks between Israel and Hamas that were mediated by Qatar while coordinating with other regional and global powers, including the United States and Egypt.

International observers hope that the deal will lead to the release of the remaining hostages and improve the dire humanitarian situation for Gaza's civilians.

In addition to Israeli citizens, more than half the hostages held foreign and dual citizenship from some 40 countries, including the US, Thailand, Britain, France, Argentina, Germany, Chile, Spain and Portugal, Israel's government has said.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the International Committee of the Red Cross will visit the remaining hostages and provide any necessary medication. No confirmation was given by Hamas or Israel for ICRC visits.

On Monday, the United Nations said two-thirds of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been made homeless due to the conflict.

"We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am secretary-general," UN chief Antonio Guterres, who took office in 2017, told reporters.

What happens once the cease-fire is over?

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said he hoped the hostage deal would lead to a peace process in Gaza.

"We hope that it will establish a comprehensive and sustainable agreement that will put an end to the war and the bloodshed and lead to serious talks for a comprehensive and just peace process in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions."

Netanyahu, however, said the war in the Gaza Strip would continue after the pause until his government has achieved all its goals, including the elimination of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the European Union, the United States, and others.

Another goal is to secure the release of all hostages.

Israel said it would extend the four-day pause by an additional day for every ten hostages released by Hamas.

Israel's Justice Ministry published a list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners who could be freed.

The list represents twice the number of people initially slated for release — 150 Palestinian women and children.

Meanwhile, Hamas said the truce would not halt their broader fight.

"As we announce the striking of a truce agreement, we affirm that our fingers remain on the trigger, and our victorious fighters will remain on the look-out to defend our people and defeat the occupation," it said.

What has the international reaction been?

US President Joe Biden welcomed the deal and said it would "ensure the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza."

He said the deal should also bring home additional American hostages. "I will not stop until they are all released," he added.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi praised the success of the mediation, alongside Qatar and the United States, which resulted in brokering a "humanitarian truce."

He welcomed the planned "exchange of hostages for prisoners" held in Israeli jails, his office said. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration, based in the occupied West Bank, welcomed the deal but also called for an extended truce with Israel and "the implementation of a political solution based on international legitimacy."

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the block would use the pause in hostilities in Gaza to "do its utmost to use this pause for a humanitarian surge to Gaza."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the deal said the deal as a "breakthrough." "Even if nothing in the world can undo their suffering. The humanitarian pause must be used to bring vital aid to the people of Gaza," she wrote on X.

lo/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)