Israel tentatively approves four-day pause, hostage release agreement

The Israeli government approved the deal on Tuesday, which would include the release of dozens of hostages and guarantee a several-day cease-fire along with the release of roughly 150 convicted Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The families of the victims of those convicted Palestinian prisoners had 24 hours to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to stop the deal. Qatar brokered the deal between Hamas and Israel. Under the reported terms of the tentative deal, Hamas would release 50 hostages. Hamas captured roughly 240 people during its Oct. 7 raid on Israel. Palestinian militants killed roughly 1,400 Israeli citizens during that attack.

Does this mean the war is over? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified before the deal was approved that his country’s war against Hamas was not over. He said Israel would resume its war effort after the cease-fire elapsed. Even though the cease-fire would not signal the end of the war in Gaza, it would be the first significant pause in the fighting.

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher and Mary Reichard’s discussion with reporter Seth Frantzman on The World and Everything in It podcast about Israel’s war in Gaza.