Netanyahu: Prisoner exchange is a difficult decision but the right one

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the planned prisoner swap deal as “difficult” but added it was “the right one.”

“We will not rest until everyone is returned,” Netanyahu continued yesterday, ahead of the announcement of the truce-for-hostage deal.

He added: “The war has stages, and the return of the hostages will have stages.”

Israel says that 239 people have been detained by Hamas in Gaza since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on 7 October.

Under the agreement, 50 Israeli prisoners of war held by Hamas will be released in exchange for at least 150 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, Israeli media reported. All those released will be women or people under the age of 19.

The deal also includes a four-day pause in fighting and the entry of 300 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including fuel, into the Gaza Strip.

The agreement also allows an extension of the pause and the potential release of more children and women held by the two sides.

READ: Israel delaying possible deal for swap of 50 hostages, humanitarian truce