A report in the Washington Post about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza sent the shekel soaring and pushed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to near record levels.
The shekel rose today against the US dollar and the euro. In late morning interbank trading, the shekel fell against the dollar by 0.82% to reach 3.633 shekels/dollar, and its price fell against the euro by 0.66% to reach 3.938 shekels/euros.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar exchange rate down 0.272% from Tuesday, at NIS 3.663/USD, and the shekel-euro exchange rate down 0.287% at NIS 3.964/EUR. Just last week, the shekel was at its weakest level against the dollar in three months, at NIS 3.76/USD, and is now at its strongest level against the greenback since March.
The Tel Aviv 35 Index is currently up 1.32% at 2,067.83 points, within striking distance of its record high of 2,080.12 set in January 2022.
The Washington Post reported last night that “the Biden administration appears close to reaching a ceasefire agreement that would halt major fighting in Gaza, release some Israeli hostages, and increase humanitarian aid to desperate Palestinian civilians.”
A senior US official told the Washington Post that the framework had been agreed upon, and that details of how to implement it were now being negotiated.
“The Washington Post reported that the agreement described by American officials on Wednesday includes a three-stage solution to the conflict. The first stage is a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all female prisoners, all men over 50, and all wounded. Israel will release hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons and withdraw its forces from densely populated areas toward the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.”
The Washington Post also reported on a plan for interim rule, “Under which neither Hamas nor Israel would govern Gaza. Security would be provided by a force trained by the United States and supported by moderate Arab allies, from a core group of about 2,500 Palestinian Authority supporters in Gaza who have already been vetted by Israel. Hamas has told mediators it is ‘willing to cede power to the interim government arrangement,’” a U.S. official said.
This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on July 11, 2024.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.