The Israeli government agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage agreement

The Israeli government approved a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas, paving the way for it to take effect on Sunday.

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

The Security Cabinet earlier recommended ratifying the agreement, saying it “supports achieving the war objectives,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

This came hours after the Prime Minister's Office and Hamas announced that they had finalized the details of the agreement, 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 the first six-week phase.

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 to enter the area every day.

Negotiations on the second phase – which is supposed to see the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the “restoration of sustainable calm” – are scheduled to begin on the 16th.

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

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

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

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas — which Israel, the United States and other countries classify as a terrorist organization — 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 been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip. Most of the population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, there is widespread destruction, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to the struggle to get aid to those in need.

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

Before the Israeli government voted on the agreement, 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 return.” house.”

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

But far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he was “horrified” by the details of the agreement, including the release of “terrorists sentenced to life imprisonment” in exchange for the release of hostages, and urged other ministers to join him in the vote. Against her.

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

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

The three-stage structure also caused division and anxiety among some of the hostage families. They fear that their relatives in Gaza will be abandoned after the end of the first phase, and are urging the government to ensure that the second and third phases are implemented as well.

“For 469 days, our loved ones have been abandoned in captivity, and now, finally, there is hope,” said Einav Zangawker, whose 25-year-old son Matan 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 life is in Israel’s interest.”

A government vote was expected on Thursday, but the meeting was postponed after Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement, something Hamas denied.

In the early hours of Friday morning, 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 emerged regarding the terms of the deal had been resolved at dawn.

A source close to Hamas told Agence France-Presse that the first three hostages to be released will be women.

On Friday, the Israeli Ministry of Justice published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners that it said would be among the first group to be released in exchange for the release of hostages. Among them were 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors, according to Agence France-Presse.

Friday also witnessed a meeting held in Cairo to discuss mechanisms for implementing the agreement, a senior Egyptian official told the BBC.

The official said that all necessary arrangements have been agreed upon, including the formation of a joint operations room to ensure compliance, which will include representatives of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Palestine and Israel.

The Egyptian state-run Cairo News Channel also quoted a source as saying that they agreed to facilitate the entry of 600 aid trucks daily during the ceasefire.

This would require an increase of more than 14 times the daily average of 43 trucks reported by the United Nations in January. But Rick Pepperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative in Gaza, said that “the possibility is very real” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings are opened.

The World Health Organization also plans to hand over a number of hospitals ready to support the devastated healthcare sector. Half of Gaza's 36 hospitals are not functioning, while others are only partially functioning.

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

The Hamas-run Civil Defense Service in Gaza said that 117 Palestinians, including 32 women and 30 children, have been killed in Israeli raids since then.

Tamer Abu Shaaban said that his young niece was killed by shrapnel from a missile while she was playing in a schoolyard in Gaza City, where her displaced family was taking refuge.

“Is this the truce they're talking about?” He told Reuters news agency while standing next to her body in the morgue. “What did this 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 civilian harm.