(CNN) — Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for a pause in fighting, alongside the release of some of the hostages held by the militant group, in return for Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel.
The truce will begin at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) on Friday, and civilian hostages will be released at 4 p.m. local time, according to Qatar – which played a crucial role in brokering the agreement.
The breakthrough deal comes after weeks of painstaking discussions involving international negotiators and mediators – and marks the first major de-escalation in the conflict, which began on October 7 after Hamas’ brutal attacks on Israel killed around 1,200 people.
Since then, more than 12,700 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, as hundreds of thousands of civilians seek shelter from airstrikes amid a shortage of food, medicine and fuel.
Here’s what we know so far.
What’s in the deal?
The deal will see the release of 50 women and children held captive in Gaza by Hamas, according to Qatar, which mediated negotiations between Israel and the militant group.
In return, Israel will grant a “humanitarian pause” in its assault of the enclave and release some Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas released a statement saying 150 women and children held in Israeli prisons would be freed. The deal also allows hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to enter Gaza, it said, echoing details in Qatar’s statement.
Israel’s own statement said the pause in fighting would last four days – but said the truce could potentially be longer, with an extra day added for each 10 additional hostages available for release.
There is an option for the pause to last as long as 10 days, but Israeli officials believe it is unlikely to last that long.
In the first hostage release scheduled for Friday morning, 13 women and children will be freed, according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.
An undisclosed number of Palestinian prisoners are also set to be released around 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), after the hostages are freed from Gaza, Al-Ansari said in a news conference.
The route the freed hostages will take cannot be disclosed for safety reasons, Al-Ansari said in response to a question from CNN. Qatar will be working closely on the operation with the Red Cross and “parties of the conflict.”
Many of the first 50 hostages are expected to come out through Egypt.
Which hostages are being freed?
The names of the hostages to be released haven’t been publicized. However, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said they are all Israelis, with some dual nationals.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal “should bring home additional American hostages.”
Two American hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, were among four hostages released earlier in the conflict.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that sprang up in response to the Hamas attack on Israel, lists 201 Israelis believed to be alive and held hostage in Gaza since October 7.
That list includes 39 children aged 18 and under; 44 adult women and 89 adult men aged 19 to 64; and 29 people aged 65 and over. The youngest is Kfir Bibas, who is 10 months old; the oldest are Yafa Adar, Shlomo Mansour and Arye Zalmanovich, who are all 85.
Hamas has said 150 Palestinian prisoners will also be freed from Israeli prisons. Most of the Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release in an exchange for Israeli hostages are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.
The list of 300 names published by Israel also lists the charges under which the prisoners are being held. Throwing stones and “harming regional security” are among the most common, but others include support for illegal terror organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement, and at least two accusations of attempted murder.
Al-Ansari, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson, said Thursday the list of hostages expected to be released had been handed to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.
How did the agreement come together?
The deal follows weeks of negotiations that involved the United States and Egypt, with several starts and stops as fighting on the ground raged on, including Israel’s raid on the largest hospital in Gaza, sources told CNN.
The deal hinged upon approval from Israel’s cabinet – which voted in favor of the agreement by a “significant majority” in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after what an Israeli official called a “tense and emotional” six-hour meeting.
It also followed mounting pressure on the Israeli government from the families of the hostages, who have demanded answers and action from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The plans were delayed overnight Wednesday – just hours before the hard-negotiated ceasefire was slated to begin early Thursday morning. An official familiar with the matter downplayed the seriousness of the delay, attributing it to “fairly minor implementation details.” Qatar confirmed later Thursday that the truce would begin Friday.
What happens next in the war?
Several parties and hostage families expressed their hopes that this initial deal could pave the way for the return of all hostages, with Israel’s president calling it a “significant first step.”
Qatar’s lead negotiator has also urged the international community to “seize this brief window of opportunity to generate further momentum for the diplomatic track,” saying such a move was the only way to resolve the conflict and establish lasting peace.
However, Israel made clear in its statement it plans to resume its air and ground campaign on Gaza, “to complete the eradication of Hamas,” once this round of hostage releases concludes.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said there are two goals to the war: the return of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas.
On Tuesday before the deal was approved, Netanyahu told his cabinet the agreement would “allow (the military) to prepare for the continuation of the fighting.” He said the war would continue until “Hamas, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.”
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