The Israeli government has ratified a cease-fire agreement that exchanges dozens of hostages held by Hamas with Palestinians in Israeli prisons and halts the 15-month war in Gaza for the first six weeks.
Under the deal, approved after a cabinet meeting that ended early Saturday morning, the six-week ceasefire will come into force on Sunday, but key questions remain, including the names of the 33 hostages who will be released during the first six weeks. remains. The stages of the ceasefire and who among them is still alive.
“The government has approved the hostage return plan,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
The deal had earlier been approved by the Security Cabinet, but an unexpected delay on Friday sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and Palestinian militants could scrap the deal. It was established despite the fact that
Far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government have threatened to vote against the deal or resign, potentially derailing months of efforts to end the conflict.
The government announced the approval after a six-hour full Cabinet meeting that took place just after 1 a.m. Jerusalem time on Saturday, well past the start of the Jewish Sabbath, an unusual move at this moment in time. reflects the importance of
In separate meetings in Cairo, Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli negotiators agreed on “all arrangements necessary for the implementation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to Egyptian state media.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the Security Cabinet's decision, saying: “This is an important step in upholding the fundamental promises a state has to its people.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, announced on Thursday that he would resign from government if the ceasefire agreement is ratified, potentially causing the ruling coalition to collapse. He made a last-minute plea to other members of Congress to vote against the deal. “We all know that these terrorists will try to harm again and kill again,” he said in a video statement.
According to Israeli media, Ben Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voted against the deal, while other ministers voted in favor. Cabinet member David Amsalem, who did not participate in the security cabinet plenary session, raised his hand in opposition during the vote.
Israel's High Court is expected to hear a petition against the release of Palestinian prisoners within 24 hours of the deal, but is widely expected not to intervene.
In the first phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, Hamas will take 33 hostages, including children, women (including female soldiers), and men over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. agreed to release.
About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners scheduled for release are serving life sentences for acts of violence against Israelis. Some have been jailed for minor offenses such as posting on social media, or held in administrative detention, which allows individuals to be pre-emptively arrested based on unreleased evidence.
Israel said the hostages' names would be released only after they were handed over to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
A list containing the names of people to be released within the next six weeks has been circulating on major Israeli news sites since early Friday morning. Hamas is expected to release the names of the hostages to be released on the evening before the deal takes effect, and on the evening of the first day.
French President Emmanuel Macron said French-Israeli nationals Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi were among the first group of hostages to be released.
Releases will occur in stages. Three Israeli hostages were released on Sunday, four more were released on the seventh day, and will be released again at the end of each week of the ceasefire period.
On Friday, Israel's Ministry of Justice released a partial list of 95 prisoners who will be released in the first phase of the deal. Among them are Palestinian parliamentarians and Feminist MP Khalida Jalal61, is a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization. arrested by Israeli forces He was arrested on December 26 and has been held without trial ever since.
A Palestinian minor detained in connection with a 2023 shooting that injured an Israeli soldier in Jerusalem is also scheduled to be released.
Nine disabled Israelis will be released in exchange for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, according to a copy of the agreement seen by the Guardian.
Men over the age of 50 on the list of 33 hostages will be released at a ratio of 1:3 in exchange for life sentences, and 1:27 for other sentences.
Abela Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, mentally disabled Israeli men who entered Gaza 10 years ago and have since been held hostage by Hamas, will be released in exchange for 30 other prisoners. A further 47 prisoners who were rearrested after being released as part of the 2011 deal that brought Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit home from Gaza are also scheduled to be released.
The first phase of the agreement will allow uprooted Palestinians to move freely within the Gaza Strip, which Israel has divided in half with a military corridor.
The injured are to be evacuated abroad for treatment, and aid to the region is being delivered to the region by a fleet of 1 truck, more than the minimum 500 that aid agencies say is needed to stem Gaza's devastating humanitarian crisis. The amount should be increased to 600 cars per day.
The second phase would involve the repatriation of the remaining surviving hostages, the release of a corresponding proportion of Palestinian prisoners, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Details are subject to further negotiations, which are expected to begin within 16 days of the start of the first phase.
The third phase will feature the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and will begin plans to rebuild Gaza. Arrangements regarding the Strip's future governance remain vague.
The Biden administration and much of the international community have advocated for the return of the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, to the Gaza Strip, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007. Ta. But Israel has repeatedly rejected this proposal.
Dozens of relatives of the hostages signed a letter delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday, pledging that “all steps of the agreement will be implemented until the last hostage returns.”
G7 leaders welcomed the approval, calling it an important development.
“With a ceasefire soon to take hold, it is also vital that we seize this opportunity to end the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the statement said.
“We reaffirm our support for a credible path to peace that leads to a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians coexist in peace, dignity and security.”
Israeli warplanes continued heavy attacks in the Gaza Strip into Thursday night. The Palestinian Authority said at least 86 people had been killed the day after the ceasefire was announced. The IDF announced late Thursday that it had struck about 50 targets across the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed in more than 15 months of war. The International Court of Justice is investigating claims that Israel committed genocide.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostages. A ceasefire agreement signed in November 2023 resulted in the release of 100 hostages in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli prisons, but fell apart a week later.
