Israeli cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal

The Israeli government approved the new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas, paving the way for it to come into force on Sunday.

The decision came after hours of discussions that continued late into the night. Two far-right ministers voted against the agreement.

The security cabinet previously recommended ratifying the deal, saying it “supports the achievement of war objectives,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

This came hours after the prime minister’s office and Hamas said they had finalized details of the deal, two days after it was announced by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt.

Under the agreement, 33 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of conflict will be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons during a first phase of six weeks.

Israeli forces will also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning home and hundreds of humanitarian trucks will be allowed to enter the territory each day.

Negotiations for the second phase – which should see the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and “the restoration of lasting calm” – will begin on the 16th day.

The third and final step will involve rebuilding Gaza – which could take years – and returning the bodies of the remaining hostages.

Qatar said the hostages to be released in the first phase will include “female civilians, female soldiers, children, the elderly and sick and injured civilians.”

Israel says three hostages are expected to be released on the first day of the ceasefire, with other small groups released at regular intervals over the next six weeks.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and others – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1 200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. .

Since then, more than 46,870 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Most of the 2.3 million people have also been displaced, destruction is widespread and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to the struggle to deliver aid to those who need it.

Israel says 94 of the hostages are still held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. Additionally, four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.

Before the Israeli government voted on the deal, Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, said: “It is a very difficult decision, but we decided to support it because it is very important for us to see all our children, men and women again.” House.”

“We hope that in the future we can complete the work in Gaza,” he added.

But far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he was “horrified” by the details of the deal, including that “terrorists sentenced to life imprisonment” would be released in exchange for the hostages. , and urged other ministers to join him in voting. against this.

On Thursday, Ben-Gvir announced that his Jewish Power party would leave the governing coalition if the deal was approved. But he said he would not overthrow the government in parliament and would return “if the war against Hamas resumes with full force.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician opposed to the deal, said his party, Religious Zionism, would withdraw if the war did not resume after the end of the first phase.

The three-phase structure also caused division and anxiety among some of the hostages’ families. They fear that their loved ones will be abandoned in Gaza once the first phase is completed and urge the government to ensure that the second and third phases are also implemented.

“For 469 days our loved ones have been abandoned in captivity, and now, finally, there is hope,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan, 25, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“This agreement must be followed through to the end, to bring everyone home and end the war. Ending the war, bringing everyone back and returning to normal is in Israel’s interest.”

The government vote was expected on Thursday, but the meeting was delayed after Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the deal – an allegation Hamas denies.

On Friday morning, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Israeli negotiating team in Doha had finalized the deal.

Hamas also issued a statement saying that “obstacles” that emerged regarding the terms of the agreement had been resolved by dawn.

A source close to Hamas told the AFP news agency that the first three hostages released would be women.

On Friday, Israel’s Justice Ministry released a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners it said would be among the first group to be released in hostage exchange. They included 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors, according to AFP.

A meeting was also held in Cairo on Friday to discuss mechanisms for implementing the deal, a senior Egyptian official told the BBC.

All necessary arrangements have been agreed, including the formation of a joint operations room to ensure compliance, which would include Egyptian, Qatari, American, Palestinian and Israeli representatives, the official said.

Egyptian state television Al-Qahera News TV also cited a source as saying they had agreed to facilitate the entry of 600 aid trucks per day during the ceasefire.

This would require a more than 14-fold increase from the daily average of 43 trucks reported by the UN in January. But Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in Gaza, said “the possibility is very present” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings were opened.

The WHO also plans to deliver a number of prefabricated hospitals to support the devastated health sector. Half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are not functional, while the rest are only partially functional.

There has been no respite for Palestinians on the ground in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was announced Wednesday evening.

Gaza’s civil defense agency, run by Hamas, said a total of 117 Palestinians, including 32 women and 30 children, had been killed since then in Israeli strikes.

Tamer Abu Shaaban said his young niece was killed by missile shrapnel while playing in the playground of a school in Gaza City where her displaced family was sheltering.

“Is this the truce they’re talking about?” he told the Reuters news agency as he stood next to her body in a morgue. “What did this young girl, this child, do to deserve this?”

The Israeli military said Thursday afternoon that it had carried out strikes on 50 “terrorist targets” across Gaza over the previous day and had taken steps to mitigate harm to civilians.