Qatar: Israel-Hamas Deal for Medicine and Aid in Gaza

(VORNews) – Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement allowing medical assistance to be sent to Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, while Qatar has announced that aid will be transported to besieged Palestinians.

A statement issued by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that humanitarian aid will be provided to civilians in Gaza’s “most vulnerable and affected areas” in exchange for medication delivered to Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Qatar announces Israel-Hamas deal for medicine and aid

According to Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Ministry of Supplies and Medicine, supplies and medicine will depart Doha for El Arish, an Egyptian city, on Wednesday to be sent to the Gaza Strip. He added that Qatar and France collaborated to broker the agreement.

Negotiations have been ongoing for weeks, with the first suggestion coming from the relatives of some of the Israeli hostages, according to Philippe Lalliot, head of France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Crisis Centre, which organizes humanitarian operations.

The 45 prisoners were to receive individualized medical kits built in France and sent to them over many months. The International Committee of the Red Cross will oversee coordination on the ground.

An Al Jazeera count based on official figures states that during the onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,139 people, Hamas captured around 240 individuals.

24,000 people have lost their lives in the Israel bombing

In retaliation for the attack, Israel devastated Gaza with a bombing, blockade, and ground invasion. Palestinian officials estimate that over 24,000 people have lost their lives as a result of the Israeli attack.

A week-long truce was declared in late November after protracted negotiations mediated by the US and Qatar, during which over a hundred hostages were released. Israel, in return, freed hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

On Tuesday morning, the White House said that US Middle East Envoy Brett McGurk had spent the past several days in Doha, Qatar, exploring the possibility of an agreement to free hostages.

McGurk is involved in “very serious and intensive discussions” with the Qataris about another deal, National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

The project is expected to bear fruit soon, he said.

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