Israel’s government approves agreement on hostages

Infant Anas was among several children and babies evacuated from Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital to the southern Gaza hospital in Rafah. Separated from her son Anas for 45 days, his mother, Warda Sbeta, finally was able to hold him once again. “I can’t leave them with only their father. He won’t be able to look after them. So I was obliged to refuse this offer,” she said. This comes as the U.S. and Israel work to secure the release of hostages from Hamas in Gaza. A senior administration official said that two American women and a 3-year-old child could be among those released. Biden thanked Qatar and Egypt for their “critical leadership and partnership in reaching this deal.” Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed the deal in a statement, with the release of 50 hostages subject to a four-day pause in the fighting.

Hamas announced a deal to release 50 hostages in exchange for a truce and the release of 150 people held in Israeli prisons. Talk of the deal has been ongoing for weeks now. U.S. fighter jets conducted airstrikes on two facilities in Iraq used by an Iranian-proxy militia, destroying the intended facilities and the personnel present.