Netherlands "welcomes" temporary ceasefire for Gaza aid, hostages release
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, mediator Qatar announced. The ceasefire should start within 24 hours. The Netherlands “welcomes the agreement,” Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said on X.
The agreement includes a four-day ceasefire, NOS reports. Hamas will release 50 Israeli hostages - 38 children and 12 women. They will be released in groups during the pause in the fighting. For every 10 additional hostages Hamas releases, Israel will extend the ceasefire by one day.
Israel will release about 150 Palestinian prisoners. According to The Jerusalem Post, these are women and children detained for “security-related offenses,” and none are suspected of being involved in actions that resulted in fatalities.
Bruins Slot is relieved that the “first group of women and children that were held hostage in Gaza” will be released and can “be reunited with their loved ones after such horrific weeks,” she said. “The Netherlands will continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of other hostages.”
Hamas also stated that hundreds of trucks carrying aid will be allowed into Gaza. Israeli media mention this, but there is no information about it in the statement from the Israeli government, according to NOS.
“It is crucial that a substantial amount of humanitarian aid can now reach Gaza,” Bruins Slot added. “The people urgently need clean water, food, medical care, and fuel.”
Israeli bombings have killed 14,128 people in Gaza, including over 5,000 children, according to the Health Ministry. Large parts of the coastal strip are in ruins, and the people trapped there have hardly any access to water, food, medical care, and electricity.
In the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, which sparked this violence, Hamas killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Over 350 were killed at a music festival. The others were attacked and killed at home.
Before meeting with his government overnight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war would continue after the ceasefire. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.”
