The provisional cease-fire deal announced on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks, involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow the entry of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The New York Times.
The agreement requires Hamas to release three female hostages on Day 1, four more on Day 7 and 26 more over the next five weeks, the document says. In exchange, Israel must free 30 to 50 Palestinian prisoners for each hostage, including some serving life sentences, the agreement says.
The 33 hostages to be released in the first phase include women and children, men over age 50 and sick or wounded people. It’s still unclear how many of the 33 are alive, but Israeli officials have estimated that most are.
On the seventh day, Israel would have to withdraw its forces in Gaza to an area in the center of the enclave, and Palestinians displaced in southern Gaza could begin to return to the northern part of the territory, according to the document.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza have been living in tents, makeshift shelters, rented homes and relatives’ apartments for more than a year. Many of those planning to return to the north will most likely find that their homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed, especially residents of Jabaliya, a town in northern Gaza.
The provisional deal says a minimum of 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents would be brought into Gaza during the initial phase.
While the deal calls for 600 trucks to enter daily, United Nations officials have said that increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to that level will be challenging. Israeli restrictions, looting, a shortage of truck drivers and other factors have made it difficult to bring sufficient relief into Gaza, according to the officials. The current number of trucks entering Gaza daily is well below 600.
By the 16th day of the first phase, negotiations about the second phase of the deal — also lasting six weeks — would begin, especially details related to the further exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
During the second phase, Israel and Hamas would declare a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and the remaining living hostages would be traded for Palestinian prisoners, the deal says.
Hamas has long said that it would agree only to a deal that ends the war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has rejected ending the conflict, indicating he may seek to resume fighting the group after freeing some hostages.
The post Here’s What the Provisional Cease-Fire Deal Says appeared first on New York Times.
