WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – A deal has been reached in the Israel-Hamas hostage agreement. This marks the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since October 7th.
A ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas Tuesday night as they agreed on the release of 50 women and children hostages in Gaza for 150 Palestinian women and children in Israeli jails.
President Joe Biden said, “We’ve been working on this intensively for weeks.”
The Biden administration says three American hostages will get to go home after this deal and there will be a pause on the attacks on Gaza for four days.
There’s been growing demand from families and activists to get the hostages back after Hamas kidnapped them back in early October. The U.S. worked with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to get this deal through. This also opens the door for more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“We thought that the delivery of humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people was important in its own right and that’s why the Secretary has been pushing for it, that’s why the President’s been pushing for it,” said State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the pause could be extended if more hostages are released.
U.S officials say the implementation of this deal would take 24 hours and the long-term goal is to avoid a region-wide conflict.
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