In exchange for a truce in the Gaza Strip, negotiators reach an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages
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US President Joe Biden helped “improve the framework proposed to you (…) to include more hostages at a lower cost”, he declared during a meeting which was to result in a decision In the evening.
“The entire security apparatus fully supports him,” he added.
The families of the hostages called for all those being held to be released, and the far-right Religious Zionism party, a member of the government coalition, spoke out against the deal, calling it “bad.” for the security of Israel, the hostages and the soldiers.
The agreement with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas would involve an exchange in stages, at the rate of “ten” hostages for “thirty” Palestinian prisoners per day.
It would include the entry of food, medical aid and fuel and above all a “renewable five-day humanitarian truce” in the Gaza Strip, two sources close to the matter told AFP.
According to this agreement, which could still be modified, between 50 and 100 Israeli and binational civilians would be released – but no soldiers – compared to a total of 300 Palestinian women and children currently incarcerated by Israel.