Report: Ceasefire would see release of 3 hostages on first day, start of withdrawal of IDF troops from populated areas

The hostage-ceasefire agreement will begin with the release of three hostages held by Hamas on the first day of the deal, following which the IDF would begin withdrawing from populated areas in Gaza, the BBC reports.

The report, citing a Palestinian official, says that seven days later, Hamas will release another four hostages and Israel will begin allowing the return of displaced Gazans from the south to the north.

The report says they will be allowed to travel up the coastal road on foot only.

Cars, animal-drawn carts, and trucks will be allowed to cross through a passage adjacent to Salah al-Din Road, monitored by an X-ray machine operated by a Qatari-Egyptian technical security team, the report says.

The agreement says the IDF will remain deployed in the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border and will retain an 800-meter buffer zone along the Strip’s eastern and northern borders with Israel during the first, 42-day phase of the deal, the BBC report says.

The report also says that Israel will release 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including approximately 190 who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more.

The report says Hamas would free 34 hostages in the first phase. Israeli officials put the number at 33.