Israel’s cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal

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

The decision came after hours of discussions that continued well 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 the war’s objectives,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The terms of the deal will officially take effect at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday, Qatari brokers announced.

Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages still 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, which 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 every day.

Negotiations on the second phase – which would see the release of the remaining hostages, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and the “restoration of sustainable calm” – will begin on the 16th.

The third and final phase will involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take years – and the return of the bodies of any remaining hostages.

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

Israel says three hostages are expected to be released on the first day of the ceasefire, with several small groups freed periodically 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 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

More than 46,870 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Most of the 2.3 million inhabitants have also been displaced, there is widespread devastation and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to a struggle to get aid to those in need.

Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. In addition, there are four Israelis who were abducted before the war, two of whom have died.

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 children, men and women back . home.”

“We hope that in the future we will be able to finish the work in Gaza,” he added.

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

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

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another right-wing politician who opposed the deal, has said his Party of Religious Zionism will withdraw 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 after the first phase is completed and are urging the government to ensure that the second and third phases are also implemented.

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

“This agreement must be followed to the end, to bring everyone home and end the war. Ending the war, returning everyone and returning to normality 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 – a claim Hamas denied.

In the early hours of Friday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Israeli negotiating team in Doha had finalized the agreement.

Hamas also issued a statement saying that the “obstacles” that arose over the terms of the deal had been resolved by dawn.

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

On Friday, the Israeli Justice Ministry released a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners it said would be part of the first group to be freed in exchange for hostages. They included 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 agreement, a senior Egyptian official told the BBC.

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

Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV also quoted a source as saying they had agreed to facilitate the entry of 600 aid trucks a day during the ceasefire.

That would require a more than 14-fold increase from January’s UN-reported daily average of 43 trucks. But Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s Gaza representative, said “the opportunity is very much there” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings open.

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

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

Gaza’s Hamas-run 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 as she played in the yard of a school in Gaza City where her displaced family lived.

“Is that the truce they’re talking about?” he told the Reuters news agency as he stood next to her body in a mortuary. “What did this young lady, 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 civilian casualties.