The Israeli cabinet (Knesset) has approved an agreement to secure the release of 50 hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Despite expressing opposition to the agreement earlier, the far-right Religious Zionism party voted in favour, with only members of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit faction voting against, according to Hebrew media as quoted by The Times of Israel.
An Israeli government official briefing reporters on Tuesday was quoted as saying by the news portal that the deal is expected to see the release of 50 living Israeli citizens, mostly women and children, in groups of 12-13 people per day.
Israel has agreed to a ceasefire for at least four days.
This is the first time the country has agreed to such an agreement since the October 7 onslaught.
The office of the Israeli PM said in a statement as quoted by BBC: “Tonight, the government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held.”
“The government of Israel, the IDF [Israeli military] and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” the statement said.
A “tragic…entirely avoidable surge” in child deaths is expected in Gaza where some 160 youngsters are already being killed every day, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, after six weeks of aerial bombardment by Israeli forces in response to the 7 October Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel that claimed 1,200 lives and some 240 hostages.
“About 160 children are killed every day; that’s one every 10 minutes,” said UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, echoing concerns from the UN Children’s Fund about the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the enclave.
Noting that more than 5,350 Palestinian children had reportedly been killed, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told journalists in Geneva, “If youngsters continue to have restricted access to water and sanitation in Gaza, we will see a tragic yet entirely avoidable surge in the number of children dying.”
“The death toll among children is sickening,” Elder said. “Grief is becoming embedded in Gaza. So this then is a stark warning: without sufficient fuel, without sufficient water, conditions for children will plummet.”
The UNICEF spokesperson added that at least 30 Israeli children are still being held hostage “somewhere in this hellscape”, before appealing for their immediate release, to spare them “their fear (and) the torment” their families have endured.