Hamas frees four Israeli soldiers, kidnapped during Oct. 7 attacks
They are all female soldiers, 19 or 20 years old and are expected to be exchanged for 200 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons. 89 hostages are still left in Gaza.
Watch CBS News
They are all female soldiers, 19 or 20 years old and are expected to be exchanged for 200 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons. 89 hostages are still left in Gaza.
The hostages are all female soldiers, aged either 19 or 20, and in keeping with a statement given by a Hamas official earlier this week. The next step, which is expected to be Saturday, is the exchange of these four hostages for 200 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
Drone footage shows Palestinians in preparing rows of white and blue tent encampments. The families are expected to return north as soon as Saturday.
Many people were seen taking packages off the aid trucks as they slowly rolled into Rafah. The ceasefire deal calls for 600 trucks of aid to reach Gaza each day.
The release of the hostages was the first hurdle in the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he delayed the truce because Hamas did not send the names of the hostages it will release. Hamas blamed the delay on a technical reason.
Following several hours of intense talks, Israel's government approved the long-awaited ceasefire and hostage agreement with the militant group Hamas early Saturday.
The full cabinet meeting comes after the security cabinet approved the plan, calling for a pause in fighting and the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that Israel's negotiating team had finalized a deal on the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Israeli media is now reporting the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal is set to go ahead. The Israeli cabinet is expected to vote on the deal on Friday with the first of the hostages being held by Hamas set to be released Sunday.
The Israeli cabinet was supposed to formally vote on a ceasefire agreement with Hamas on Thursday, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put that vote on hold, accusing Hamas of trying to change the terms. A senior Hamas official disputes that, saying the group is committed to the agreement presented by mediators, including the U.S.
President Joe Biden credits his administration for the plan, which he says was built on a frame he introduced last spring.
The ceasefire and hostage release agreement will halt more than a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
After 15 months of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed on a plan exchanging hostages for prisoners and opening Gaza to aid organizations. As Sara Machi reports, both Jewish and Palestinian groups in Chicago are expressing hope, but it is tempered with a year and three months of pain.
There is a conflicting feeling—with a sense of optimism, but also concern that the ceasefire deal will last, and that both Palestinians and Jews can really heal. Sabrina Franza reports.
After intense negotiations, Israel and Hamas have reached a deal that would see a ceasefire and the exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas calls for the release of dozens of hostages and prisoners on both sides, and will allow for hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. William Muck, a professor of political science at North Central College, breaks down what still has to happen for the ceasefire to take effect and the role that the incoming Trump administration had in securing it.
A draft deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and hostage release has been agreed to in principle and, if all goes well, will be finalized by Israel and Hamas this week, Arab, U.S. and Israeli officials told CBS News.
The proposed agreement, which involves the release of dozens of hostages, now in Israel's hands.
Reuters has reported that Hamas approved an Israeli list of 34 hostages that would be released if a deal is reached.
Both israeli and hamas negotiators, confirmed the talks on friday. official negotiations have been deadlocked for months, but indirect talks have continued as the biden administration continues to push for a ceasefire, before he leaves the white house.
Both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly blamed the other side for the past failure of talks.
Inside Gaza, mourners held funerals for 19 people, 12 of them children, killed in Israeli strikes.
That's about two percent of Gaza's population before the war broke out between Israel and Hamas 14 months ago.
The death toll from the Israeli strike on the Al-Mawasi area, which Israel had designated as a humanitarian zone, has risen to 20 with another 18 injured, according to Nasser hospital. At least 11 of those killed were children.
