The ceasefire in Gaza will begin tomorrow, bringing hopes of an end to the year-long war that has left thousands dead in the land strip bombed by the Israeli forces in response to an attack on civilians by Palestinian groups. Hundreds of Israelis were kidnapped during the October 7 attack and dragged across the border, some of whom are set to return from Gaza after 15 months in exchange for prisoners held by Israel. Here’s some details on the hostage deal and who are the captives set to be freed by Israel and Hamas:

What is the deal?

The Israeli cabinet has approved the ceasefire and release of hostages, which had earlier been agreed to by Hamas, which has been at the forefront of the Palestinian resistance.

The first phase of the deal lasting six weeks would see a “complete ceasefire”, US President Joe Biden had said on Thursday. This would stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas, bringing hope for millions forced out of their homes and who have been waiting for their near and dear ones.

Read: Hostage Exchange And More: What To Know About 3-Phase Gaza Deal

The ceasefire will take effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday, said the foreign ministry spokesman of Qatar, which had helped mediate the deal.

Who Will Be Freed From Israel?

Protesters celebrate in support for the Palestinians in Morocco’s Rabat

From Israel’s prisons, as many as 737 detainees will be freed in the first phase, the Justice Ministry has confirmed. They will include men, women, and children. The government has asserted that they will not go ahead with the release before 4 pm local time on Sunday, or 1400 GMT.

Read: “Bloodiest Day” For Gaza As Airstrikes Continued Hours Surrounding Ceasefire

Zakaria Zubeidi, who headed the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party and is seen as a hero by the Palestinians, is on the list. The list includes Khalifa Jarar, a leftist lawmaker and a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, banned by Israel, US, and the European Union as a “terrorist” group.

The number of prisoners to be released will finally depend on how many live hostages are freed by Hamas, according to an Israeli spokesperson.

Which Hostages Will Be Freed?

Protesters in Tel Aviv demand the release of Israelis held hostage in Gaza

A total of 33 hostages, who were kidnapped by Hamas, will be freed in the first phase. During the 2023 attack, as many as 251 people were taken hostage. Of them, the Israeli military believes 34 are dead and 94 remain in Gaza.

Read: Gaza’s Destruction In Numbers: The Material Impact Of War

The list includes at least three Israeli women soldiers, news agency AFP reported citing Hamas sources though it could also refer to civilians kidnapped during the October attack since the group considers every Israeli of military age with prior military service as a solider.

Local media have identified the hostages set to be freed tomorrow as Liri Albag, Itzhak Elgarat, Karina Ariev, Ohad Ben Ami, Ariel Bibas, Yarden Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Agam Berger, Gonen Romi, Daniella Gilboa, Emily Damari, Sagui Dekel Chen, Iair Horn, Omer Wenkert, Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, Arbel Yehoud, Ohad Yahalomi, Eliya Cohen, Or Levy, Naama Levy, Oded Lifshitz, Gadi Moshe Mozes, Avraham (Avera) Mengisto, Shlomo Mantzur, Keith Samuel Sigal, Tsachi Idan, Ofer Kalderon, Tal Shoham, Doron Steinbrecher, Omer Shem Tov, Hisham Al-Sayed, and Eli Sharabi.

Jerusalem:

Israelis and Palestinians are signaling new efforts to forge a ceasefire deal, even a limited one, for the first time in a year that would pause the fighting in Gaza and return to Israel some of the hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz told his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call on Wednesday there was now a chance for a new deal that would allow the return of all the hostages, including US citizens, Mr Katz’s office said.

A Western diplomat in the region, however, said a deal was taking shape, but it would likely be limited in scope, involving the release of only a handful of hostages and a short pause in hostilities.

Such a truce and release would be only the second since the start of the war in October 2023.

The guarded optimism emerges as US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan heads to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and then to Egypt and Qatar, co-mediators with the US on a deal.

Separately, President-elect Donald Trump has demanded that militants of the Palestinian Hamas group release the hostages held in Gaza before he takes over from Mr Biden on Jan. 20. Otherwise, Mr Trump has said, there will be “hell to pay.”

Mr Trump’s designated hostage envoy Adam Boehler has said he too is involved, having spoken already to Mr Biden and to Mr Netanyahu. Israel says 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza. Seven are believed to be US citizens.

Citing Mr Trump’s threat of “hell to pay,” Boehler told Israel’s Channel 13 news last week: “I would appeal to those people that have taken hostages: Make your best deal now. Make it now because every day that passes, it is going to get harder and harder and more Hamas lives will be lost.”

Although Mr Biden and Mr Trump are working separately, their efforts overlap and both stand to gain from a deal. A US official said Trump’s public statements about the need for a swift ceasefire “have not been harmful.” 

The official said the priority is to get the hostages home, whether it is at the end of the Mr Biden term or the start of the Mr Trump term. 

Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s designated Middle East envoy, met separately in late November with Mr Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said a source briefed on the talks.

TIMING IS APT FOR NETANYAHU

The timing for a deal may never have been better politically for Mr Netanyahu.

The prime minister told reporters on Monday that Hamas’ increasing isolation following the collapse of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad’s rule opened the door to a possible hostage deal even if it was too early to claim success.

Israel’s military chief and the head of the Shin Bet internal security service were in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss post-war Gaza border crossings and administration, according to three Israeli security sources.

The public optimism of Israeli leaders over the past week has matched the general tone in internal discussions behind closed doors, according to an Israeli official.

For Mr Netanyahu, concessions would be far easier now with Israel having reestablished its reputation as the most powerful Middle East force and its Iran-backed enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria now posing less of a threat.

Mr Netanyahu’s once-fragile coalition has been strengthened by the addition of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and his more centrist faction. Mr Netanyahu, having achieved a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, can complete the picture with the return of the hostages in a deal with Hamas.

Over the past year, some of the far-right ministers in his cabinet had voiced objections, even threatening to bring down the government, should the war in Gaza end. But with Israel’s enemies weakened, and his coalition strengthened, Netanyahu is far less vulnerable politically.

Mr Saar said on Monday that Israel was now more optimistic about a possible hostage deal amid reports Hamas had asked other Gaza factions to help it compile a list of Israeli and foreign hostages in their custody, whether dead or alive.

A Palestinian official close to the talks and familiar with the positions of all the parties involved described what he called “a fever of negotiations” with ideas emerging on all sides, including among mediators in Egypt and Qatar.

Mr Trump’s involvement had given the talks a boost, even if the sides have yet to present lists of Palestinian prisoners and hostages to be exchanged or to complete plans for a temporary or phased truce, the Palestinian official said.

He said Hamas was willing to show some flexibility should there be guarantees Israel would not resume the fighting.

It is unclear how the sides can bridge the largest gap that has persisted through numerous rounds of failed negotiations; Hamas demands an end to the war, while Israel says the war will not end before Hamas no longer rules Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Jordan and Turkey on Wednesday for talks on Syria, the State Department said. Israel is not in his official itinerary but there is always a possibility he might add the stop.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Negotiations on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in the Gaza conflict appear to be in their closing stages and U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss remaining gaps on Thursday, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The official, briefing reporters ahead of their talks, said the remaining obstacles are bridgeable and there will be more meetings aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas over the next week.

Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct.7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies, triggering a war in which more than 38,000 people in Gaza have been killed.

Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages; Israel believes around a third of them are dead.

Months of stop-and-start talks have failed to produce a deal to gain release of some of the remaining hostages.

The senior U.S. official said both Israel and Hamas still have some issues to resolve but that a deal is close in which a six-week ceasefire would take place in exchange for the release of women, elderly men and wounded hostages over a 42-day period.

“It’s a very different negotiation now than just a month ago when we had some fundamentally unbridgeable issues,” the official said.

Biden will hold talks with Netanyahu and then later in the day Vice President Kamala Harris will have a separate meeting with the Israeli leader.

Harris has taken over as the presumed Democratic choice for the November presidential election against Republican Donald Trump, after Biden opted not to seek reelection again under pressure from Democrats concerned about his mental acuity.

The senior U.S. official said both Biden and Harris are “completely aligned” on U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza.

“The Israelis will hear full alignment,” the official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)