According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Israel’s cabinet voted on Saturday to approve a ceasefire and hostage release, easing days of uncertainty over whether the truce would take effect this weekend.
The ceasefire, set to begin Sunday, would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza’s deadliest-ever war.
In exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, it would also allow the release of hostages held there since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
After the cabinet’s vote, Netanyahu’s office announced early on Saturday morning that the hostage-return plan had been approved by the government.
Israel’s justice ministry has said 737 prisoners and detainees will be freed as part of the first phase of the deal — none before 4: 00 pm local time (1400 GMT) on Sunday.
Since the ceasefire agreement was announced, Israeli strikes have claimed the lives of dozens of people, with the military reporting on Thursday that it had hit about 50 targets in Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
The agreement will become effective on Donald Trump’s inauguration, who credited his efforts to closing the deal with Joe Biden’s team, who is retiring.
It was earlier approved by Israel’s security cabinet, with Netanyahu’s office saying it “supports achieving the objectives of the war”.
After the war, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas claimed that the Palestinian Authority has finished making preparations to “assume full responsibility in Gaza.”
displaced Gazans were preparing to flee their homes even before the truce was to end.
“I will go to kiss my land”, said Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp further south. It would be preferable for me to die on my land rather than as a displaced person here.
The Hamas attack hostages that were still being held were a source of joy and sorrow in Israel.
Kfir Bibas, whose second birthday falls on Saturday, is the youngest hostage.
Hamas said in November 2023 that Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shiri had died in an air strike, but with the Israeli military yet to confirm their deaths, many are clinging to hope.
“I think of them, these two little redheads, and I get shivers”, said 70-year-old Osnat Nyska, whose grandchildren attended nursery with the Bibas brothers.
– ‘ Confident ‘ –
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed the ceasefire would continue before the vote, despite the fact that two far-right ministers had threatened to quit the cabinet.
“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday”, he said.
Since the deal was announced on Wednesday, Israel has reportedly bombed several areas of the territory, killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds more, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages and could turn their “freedom… into a tragedy”.
The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1, 210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli , official figures.
Of the 251 people taken hostage, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46, 876 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
– Biden and Trump
After months of unsuccessful negotiations, Qatar, the United States, and Egypt intensified their efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
According to US officials, Biden pointman Brett McGurk was accompanied in the region by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff in an unusual pairing to broker a deal before closing the deal.
“If we weren’t involved… the deal would’ve never happened”, Trump said in an interview Thursday.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the agreement on Wednesday, said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see 33 hostages released.
On Friday, he said: “We seek a full implementation of the first phase, and for the second phase to be the final.
We anticipate that the Security Council will pass a legally binding resolution to implement the agreement.
Hamas has yet to confirm that the 33 people are alive, despite the Israeli authorities’ presumption.
Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return” to their residences”, the Qatari prime minister said.
Three Israeli women soldiers would be the first to be freed on Sunday evening, according to two Hamas-related sources.
The women may, in fact, be civilians, as the militant group refers to all Israelis of military age who have undergone mandatory military service as soldiers.
A representative from the Israeli military said there were facilities set up at Kerem Shalom, Erez, and Reim where hostages would be taken by medical personnel and those with mental health conditions before being “transported” by helicopter or vehicle to hospitals in Israel.
Israel” is then expected to release the first group of Palestinian prisoners, including several with high sentences”, a source said on condition of anonymity.
According to Egyptian state-linked media, negotiators agreed to establish a joint operations room in Cairo on Friday to “ensure effective coordination” and compliance with the terms of the truce.
Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, both of whom were being held hostage, were among the hostages who were scheduled to be freed in the first phase, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Biden, the second phase could put an end to the war at “full throttle.”
The enormous task lies ahead for humanitarian workers in Gaza, where nearly all of its 2.4 million people have at least once been forced to flee.
” Everything has been destroyed, children are on the streets, you can’t pinpoint just one priority, “Doctors Without Borders coordinator Amande Bazerolle told AFP.
Source: Channels TV
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