Israel’s government voted Thursday to approve the first phase of a peace deal that could bring an end to the war in Gaza and see Hamas return the remaining Israeli hostages.
Hamas had previously accepted this initial step in the 20-point plan that President Donald Trump announced last week at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The agreement calls for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and the remains of those who died after being kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack.
In return, Israel is to release 250 prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gaza residents detained since the Oct. 7 attack, including all women and children. Israel will also lift its clampdown on aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory, which global experts have said is suffering from starvation.
The agreement comes two years after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, in which the group killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages. In retaliation, Israel launched a military assault on the Gaza Strip that, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, has killed more than 67,000 people, many of them children. A United Nations commission of inquiry and the world’s foremost experts on genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, declared in September that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. The Israeli government has denied this. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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