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A deal has been reached between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to deliver urgent medication to 45 Israeli hostages held by the group in Gaza in return for humanitarian and medical aid for the most vulnerable civilians.
The deal was brokered by Qatar and France who said that the aid would leave for Egypt on Wednesday before being taken across the Rafah border crossing, reported Reuters.
In a statement, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said that the deal would mean “medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in the Gaza Strip, in the most affected and vulnerable areas, in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza.”
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The official did not delve much into the details on how much aid or what aid would be delivered to the civilians, the report added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that two planes of the Qatar Air Force were to land on Wednesday in Egypt with medicines purchased in France based on an Israeli list.
Earlier, France foreign ministry’s crisis centre head, Philippe Lalliot, said that negotiations had been going on for weeks and the initial idea had come from the families of some of the Israeli hostages, as per the report.
Each of the 45 hostages will receive specific medical packages for several months, which were put together in France. The actions on ground will be coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Three French nationals are still held as hostages in Gaza, but none of them are in urgent need of medication, Lalliot said.
Meanwhile, the United States has expressed hope that further talks could lead to the release of more hostages.
The US Middle East envoy has been in Qatar to dicuss the possibility of such a deal, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday, reported BBC.
“Very serious and intensive” have been held, he said, adding, “we are hopeful it will bear fruit and bear fruit soon.”
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