Preliminary news was released today that Israeli negotiators had reached an agreement for a temporary truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Negotiations had been ongoing in Paris between the various parties and a team of mediators, which included Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. Following positive steps in Paris, in part due to a report that Hamas has “dropped some of its demands following the hardening of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s positions,” a senior Israeli source told the Jerusalem Post.
After meeting with his War Cabinet to discuss further steps, Netanyahu announced he had sent the negotiating team back to Paris for further talks. “We are working to obtain another framework outline for the release of our hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a post on X on Feb. 24. “That is why I sent a delegation to Paris—and tonight we will discuss the next steps in the negotiations,” he wrote.
Jerusalem Post also quotes National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, who told Channel 12 on Feb. 24, Saturday evening, that “From the tone of what I have been hearing in recent hours, it will be possible to make progress.”
The agreement under discussion includes the release of one Israeli hostage each day in return for a ceasefire—40 hostages over six weeks. For every Israeli hostage released, 10 Palestinian prisoners will be released. Israel is also being asked to pull out of north Gaza entirely, and to expand humanitarian aid.