Israel cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal

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

The decision was made 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 agreement, saying it “supports the achievement of war objectives,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

It 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 deal, 33 Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of conflict will be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails during the first phase that will last six weeks.

Israeli forces will also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to their homes, and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed into the territory each day.

Negotiations for the second phase, which should allow the release of the remaining hostages, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and “the restoration of sustainable calm”, will begin on the 16th.

The third and final stage will involve rebuilding Gaza – something that could take years – and returning the bodies of the remaining hostages.

Qatar has said hostages to be freed during 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 freed on the first day of the ceasefire, and that more small groups will be 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 some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. .

More than 46,870 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry. Most of the 2.3 million inhabitants have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as the struggle to get aid to those in need.

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

Ahead of the Israeli government’s vote 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 boys, men and women back.” home.”

“We hope that in the future we can finish 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 the fact that “terrorists sentenced to life in prison” would be freed in exchange for the hostages, and urged other ministers to join him in the vote. against.

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

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician who opposed the deal, has said his Religious Zionism party will resign if the war does not resume after the first phase ends.

The three-phase structure has also caused division and anxiety among some of the hostages’ families. They fear that their relatives 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 25-year-old son Matan was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

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

The government vote was expected to take place on Thursday, but the meeting was delayed after Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the deal, a charge Hamas denied.

In the early hours of Friday, 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 arose in relation to 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 to be freed would be women.

On Friday, the Israeli Justice Ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who it said would be part of the first group to be released in exchange for hostages. There were 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors, according to AFP.

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

All necessary arrangements were agreed upon, including the formation of a joint operations room to ensure compliance, which would include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Palestine and Israel, the official said.

Egyptian state television Al-Qahera News also quoted 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 “there are many possibilities” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings are opened.

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

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

The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense agency said a total of 117 Palestinians, including 32 women and 30 children, had been killed in Israeli strikes since then.

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

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

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