Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary cease-fire deal last night. Fifty Israeli hostages, women and children, are set to be freed in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas holds roughly 240 Israeli hostages hostage as bargaining chips, giving the terrorist organization some leverage over the superior firepower of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The latest twist in six weeks of fighting will include a four-day humanitarian pause set to begin at 3 a.m. ET, according to Egyptian state media. Israel Defense Forces continue to call for residents to evacuate Gaza City, wherever possible.
“Hamas has lost its control over northern Gaza and is trying to prevent Gazans from moving southward for their safety,” the official IDF X account added.
Many observers expect there will be pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate.
For now, relatives of the hostages wait with baited breath, to see if their loved ones will come home:
The relatives of some of the Israeli hostages being held captive by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip tell Fox News that they have not been notified yet who will be among the first hostages to be freed Thursday as part of the recently-brokered deal.
“We haven’t heard anything, we don’t know anything yet. We are hopeful, but we don’t know,” Efrat Machikawa, who has not heard from her aunt, uncle or three cousins since the Oct. 7 attack, told “Fox & Friends.”
Gili Roman, the brother of captive Yarden Roman, said “We do not fully trust Hamas. We are talking about a very cruel terrorist organization.
“But we hope that they will stand up to the agreement that they have signed and we will see on a daily basis more and more of our loved ones,” he added.
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