Israel, Hamas agree to 4-day truce; 50 hostages to be released
Updated at 6 p.m. EST on Nov. 22, 2023: The scheduled release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza has been delayed until Friday. The delay comes after the Israeli government reached an agreement with the terrorist group for a four-day truce in which one Israeli hostage would be released for every three Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. President Joe Biden said three Americans are expected to be among the 50 hostages released by Hamas during a four-day truce.
"The contacts on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly. The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday," Israeli National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi said Wednesday in a statement about the deal that was originally expected to commence on Thursday.
Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokesperson for the Biden administration, added: "The deal was agreed and remains agreed. The parties are working out final logistical details, particularly for the first day of implementation. It is our view that nothing should be left to chance as the hostages begin coming home. Our primary objective is to ensure that they are brought home safely. That is on track and we are hopeful that implementation will begin on Friday morning."
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Original report:
Israel and Hamas have reportedly reached an agreement on a four-day truce amid the seven-week-old war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on civilians in southern Israel.
Announced Wednesday, the agreement was reached after mediation with Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The agreement could free dozens of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, the Associated Press reports. The temporary ceasefire is slated to begin Thursday morning.
Hamas says 50 of the 240 hostages will be freed in stages in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly teens arrested for minor offenses.
Hundreds of trucks filled with humanitarian and medical supplies will be allowed into Gaza.
"I welcome the commitment that Israel has made to support an extended pause to ensure this deal can be fully carried out and to ensure additional humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in Gaza," U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement. "The flow of aid must substantially increase and civilians must be protected. We also call on Hamas to release all the remaining hostages."
On Tuesday, Netanyahu vowed Israel would "continue the war until" it eliminates Hamas and secures the return of all hostages.
"All of the security agencies fully support [the truce]. They have made it completely clear in their professional assessment that the security of our forces will be ensured during the pause and that the intelligence effort will be maintained in those days," he said. "They have made it clear that not only will the war effort not be harmed, it will enable the IDF to prepare for the continuation of the fighting."
Israel says the ceasefire could be extended if more hostages are freed. A Palestinian source told Reuters that as many as 100 hostages could be released by the end of November.
The conflict began after Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attack on the southern Israeli communities near the Gaza border that killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians. This prompted Israel to launch retaliatory airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza, seeking to eliminate Hamas and secure the release of hostages.
Hamas-run Gaza health authorities say over 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Gaza Health officials say they have lost the inability to count the death toll because of a collapse of parts of its health system and the inability to retrieve bodies amid the conflict, according to the Associated Press.
Although Hamas' death toll figure doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently said the war is "having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day."
Christian leaders have taken different positions when it comes to the war. Israel says it has a right as a country to eliminate a terrorist group that has attacked its people. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and Israel has accused Hamas of using civilian buildings like schools and hospitals for military purposes.
Calls for a ceasefire have been amplified in recent weeks as Israel is accused of conducting airstrikes and operations on schools, hospitals and refugee centers that it says are being used by Hamas.
A coalition known as the Churches for Middle East Peace and American church-based leaders sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Nov. 9 calling for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of the Israel-Hamas war.
While condemning Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, the letter argues that the massacre "does not justify further violence against Palestinian civilians."
"We condemn the collective punishment imposed upon the more than 2.2 million Palestinians living in Gaza when, on October 8, the Israeli government cut off water, gas, and electricity, and all goods and supplies to the territory, putting even more pressure on a community already suffering from a humanitarian crisis more than a decade in the making," the letter reads.
"We further condemn Israel's large-scale air bombardment and ground invasion that continues to have an indiscriminate and tragically disproportionate impact on civilians."
Signatories of the letter include the heads and leaders of The Episcopal Church, the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the National Council of Churches, American Baptist Churches USA and the Alliance of Baptists.
The church leaders' letter argued that the actions of both Hamas and the Israeli government "in no way advance peace" and "have caused loss of life and much harm, grief, and devastation, not only to the individuals affected but also to the legitimate cause of the Palestinian people in seeking an end to the decades-long occupation and the blockade of the Gaza Strip."
The letter urged the administration not to supply additional military aid to Israel and for both sides to better adhere to the Geneva Conventions and overall international law.
In a full-page ad in The Jerusalem Post last month, an interfaith coalition of Christian and Jewish leaders expressed their "unlimited and unqualified" support for Israel to do "all that is necessary to defeat Hamas." The leaders urged Biden not to pressure Israel into a "premature ceasefire."
The group of around 50 faith leaders included Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference President Samuel Rodriguez, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, former Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former President Donald Trump's spiritual advisor Paula White.
"It is not sufficient for Israel to degrade or even defeat this brutal terrorist regime, which oppresses its own people. Israel must completely destroy every Hamas terrorist, so that this evil is erased from human history," the leaders stated. "If America pressures Israel into a ceasefire, Israel's enemies will be emboldened, and Israel imperiled, long into the future."
Earlier this month, multiple Evangelical church organizations from around the world signed on to a joint statement calling for a "cessation of hostilities between Israel and different Palestinian formations and supporters, including Hamas."
"We condemn the attacks on civilians by Hamas. Hamas' acts of aggression and the largest killing of Jewish civilians on a single day since the Holocaust are deplorable and despicable," stated the Evangelical groups.
"We note that Israel in pursuit of Hamas has caused more civilian deaths in Palestine. We condemn these further deaths of Palestinian civilians."
The signatories of that letter included the Middle East and North Africa Evangelical Alliance, the Evangelical Fellowship of India, the Asian Evangelical Alliance, Alianza Evangelica Latina, the Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia, Jordan Evangelical Council, the Evangelical Alliance of Arabic speakers in Europe and Association of the Iraqi National Evangelical Churches.
