Qatari deal to deliver medicine to hostages for more aid to Gazans is approved

According to the terms of the deal, Israel will allow a greater amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Qatari Foreign Ministry announced a deal that would ensure medicine reaches hostages in exchange for Israel assisting in the transfer of more humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, as reported by The Times of Israel. 

On Wednesday, Qatari military aircraft will leave Doha and will head to el-Arish on Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, where the supplies will then go to the Gaza Strip.

The deal was brokered by Qatar and France, and according to a statement, Qatar said it will continue to negotiate between Israel and Hamas “within the framework of Qatari efforts to bring about an end to the war in Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the deal and said France’s Foreign Ministry provided medicine for 45 hostages.

Israeli President Netanyahu indicated that the delivery of medicine would be in the next few days but didn’t provide a timeline.

According to the terms of the deal, Israel will allow a greater amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza and supplies will begin being ferried to Egypt on Wednesday.

In the more than 100 days since October 7th, Hamas hasn’t allowed the Red Cross to see the hostages nor have they allowed any medicines in.

Families of hostages have reported attempts to deliver medicine to hostages only to have the attempts rebuffed by Hamas.

Although the delivery of medicines to hostages is in progress, there are still no announcements of a deal on the table to release the 130 captives to Israel.

Last week, families of the hostages remaining in Gaza spoke with the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani about an agreement that would lead to the release of the hostages.

The deal would have allowed the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for allowing Hamas leaders to survive with exile status.

The hostage deal also involved a gradual release of abductees contingent on the IDF’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The cabinet did not approve the deal, which would effectively end the war before it had achieved its goals.

Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that while the release of hostages is an urgent issue, Israel won’t be blackmailed into a ceasefire by Hamas, and military pressure is required to free the captives.