November 21, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

“This is a moral and ethical obligation that correctly expresses the Jewish and Israeli value of redeeming captives and I hope that it will be a significant first step to return all the abductees home,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official told CNN the hostage release deal would be implemented after a 24-hour window to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court has elapsed.

CNN reported earlier that it would be 24 hours before the start time of the truce would be announced.

It will also include the entry of aid and fuel, and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners — women and children — held in Israeli jails, according to a Hamas statement.

Such a move was only way to solve the conflict, both in the short term and the long term, said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement. 

“Qatar’s priority now is to ensure that the terms of the agreement are respected while redoubling our efforts to secure a long-term ceasefire, end the war, and work towards lasting peace through a comprehensive political process,” the statement concluded.

The deal would see the release of at least 50 hostages in Gaza — women and children — in exchange for a four-day pause in Israel's air and ground assault on the enclave, according to the Israeli government.

It will also include the entry of aid and fuel, and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners — women and children — held in Israeli jails, according to a Hamas statement.

Hamas pulled down its earlier statement, with a diplomatic source close to the talks telling CNN it was because the arrangement had been that Qatar would be first to announce the successful mediation.

“I welcome the deal to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist group Hamas during its brutal assault against Israel on October 7th," Biden said in the statement.
“Jill and I have been keeping all those held hostage and their loved ones close to our hearts these many weeks, and I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls, who have endured weeks of captivity and an unspeakable ordeal, will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented.
“Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released," Biden's statement read.

Conricus said the exact timing of the pause remains to be determined. 

"Until we are told to do so by the Israeli government, we will continue fighting Hamas and when such a deal will come into effect, we will respect that. But we will be very vigilant on the ground," Conricus said. 

Conricus said he fears Hamas will use the pause in fighting to resupply and regroup.

"Of course we would rather continue to apply pressure on Hamas," he said, "But this pause is for a very important cause." 

"I can assure that we will be respectful of any agreement, that we will honor the commitments made by the Israeli government," he added.

While the exact names of the hostages to be released has yet to be publicized, Conricus said they are all Israelis, though some have dual nationalities. 

The deal will also include the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners — women and children — held in Israeli jails, according to a Hamas statement. It would also allow the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to Gaza.

Conricus said the details of how the exchange will play out are also still being worked out. 

Qatar, which played a key mediation role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has issued its own statement announcing what it called “an agreement for a humanitarian pause.”

It said the start of the pause would be announced within 24 hours.

The statement did not put a number on how many Palestinians would be released, but appeared to indicate the number would increase the longer the truce agreement is in place.

It also said the pause will allow for a “larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid including fuel designated for humanitarian needs.” 

Israel has been highly reluctant to allow fuel into Gaza since October 7, and only agreed at the weekend to allow minimal deliveries to power sewage facilities and water supply systems.

The statement said Qatar was committed “to ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions, stop the bloodshed, and protect civilians,” and paid tribute to Egypt and the United States for helping get the deal over the line.

Families of American hostages in Gaza are still waiting to find out if their loved ones will be released as part of the deal that has been secured.

Her great aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, described the wait as excruciating.

“For our family, we have spent the last seven weeks ... worrying, wondering, praying, hoping,” she told CNN Tuesday night.

Abigail has a 6-year-old sister and 10-year-old brother, who both saw their parents being murdered during brutal October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Naftali said. The two younger siblings hid in a closet for 14 hours, she said. 

The family is holding on to hope that Abigail will be one of the first to be released. 

“The one thing that we all hold on to is that hope now that Abigail comes home, she comes home by Friday,” Naftali said. “Friday is her 4th birthday. We need to see Abigail come out and then we will be able to believe it.”

The Israeli cabinet meeting to discuss the hostage release deal lasted about six hours – and topics ranged from the morality of the proposed deal to its battlefield implications, an Israeli official told CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.

Another government official, Gal Hirsch, told CNN that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had previously voiced concerns about the deal, ended up supporting it.

Only two people voted against the agreement, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Hirsch, who acts as a hostage coordinator for Israel, said he had told the hostages’ families early Wednesday the government "will do everything to bring all the hostages back home.”

The timeline for the first hostages to cross into Israel was still unclear, he added.

The deal will also include the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners — women and children — held in Israeli jails, according to a Hamas statement. It would also allow the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to Gaza.

A major breakthrough had come two days earlier on November 12. Hamas – after refusing for days – had relented in offering identifying information about several dozen hostages, such as their age, gender and nationalities. The information confirmed that numerous children and toddlers had been taken captive on October 7.

Even though Israel and the US believed there were more than 50 women and children hostages, both sides agreed that they needed to move ahead with securing the release of those 50 – and hope that the deal might incentivize Hamas to release more after the initial group.

But hours after McGurk’s meeting with Netanyahu, everything went dark.