LONDON, November 22. /TASS/. Israel and Palestine’s radical movement HAMAS may start swapping hostages on November 23 if the deal is approved by the government in the early hours of Wednesday, an adviser to the country’s prime minister told Sky News.
"The government conversations are still going on," he said. "In the end, for this arrangement <…> to be approved, the full government has to vote, and that vote is still pending. It might happen in an hour or two."
In his words, even if the deal is approved by the government, a 24-hour period will be observed. As some of those to be released from Israeli prisons under the deal were sent behind bars on terrorism charges, this period will enable relatives of their purported victims to challenge their release in the country’s Supreme Court.
"The Israeli Supreme Court is of course an independent branch of government. In the past, they have not overruled the government on these things. Obviously, they have the right to do so," he said. "So, on the assumption that the government tonight approves the framework for the release of those hostages, the 24-hour period comes in, when the Supreme Court hears the petitions. On the assumption that it rejects the petitions, it allows the government to go ahead, <…> that means, we can start moving on this deal on Thursday, hopefully seeing people to come home immediately."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his government was preparing to make "a tough, but correct decision" pertaining to the possible hostage swap. He did not disclose details of the agreement.
Earlier, NBC said a tentative agreement on the issue has been reached. According to the TV channel, the tentative plan envisages the exchange of 50 women and children held by HAMAS, to approximately 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Also, the sides may announce a pause in hostilities for about four or five days to enable fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.