Israel’s security cabinet said it will convene on Friday morning to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal as a right-wing party in prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition announced it would quit the government in protest.
Israel delayed endorsing the ceasefire for one day over what it claimed were new demands raised by Hamas at talks in the Qatari capital, Doha. Hamas denied it had raised any new stipulations.
The Israeli delegation left Doha on Thursday night, saying the differences over the identity of Palestinian militants to be set free as part of the deal had been resolved.
The full Israeli cabinet will convene on Saturday night and the ceasefire is due to come into effect on Sunday, or possibly Monday, when the first three Israeli hostages of the 98 held in Gaza will be released. They are female soldiers who were serving on a base close to the Gaza border that was overrun by militants during the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
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Release of three Israeli hostages to go ahead following week of tension
Outgoing US vice-president Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli president Yitzhak Herzog on Thursday and told him that Washington expects the ceasefire agreement to be implemented in full and on time.
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US president Joe Biden’s outgoing secretary of state Antony Blinken said the ceasefire should go ahead on Sunday as planned. “It’s not exactly surprising that in a process and negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end,” Mr Blinken told a press conference in Washington.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party, announced on Thursday night that his party will leave the government if the ceasefire is approved. He described the agreement as a surrender to Hamas. However, he said his party could return to government if the war in Gaza was resumed.
At a press conference, Mr Ben-Gvir said the deal, which includes the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails, will enable the reorganisation of militant groups in Gaza and bring back the threat to residents in Israeli border communities.
Despite the decision, Mr Netanyahu is still assured of a majority to approve the ceasefire. However, the move is likely to increase pressure on the other far-right coalition member, the Religious Zionist party, led by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. It is also pressing Mr Netanyahu for a guarantee that the war will resume after the first six-week stage of the ceasefire, during which 33 hostages, some of whom have died, are due to be returned.
Israel continued its attacks on Gaza ahead of the ceasefire, with bombardments killing at least 80 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry. Victims included 12 people who were living in a residential block in Gaza city, the ministry said.
The Israel Defense Forces has set up a designated compound that will be used to receive the hostages released in the deal. The compound, close to the southern Gaza Strip, includes private rooms in which the newly freed hostages will reunite with their families.
Military officials said some of the hostages are believed to be wounded and will need urgent medical care. They will be flown by helicopter to a hospital in central Israel after being united with their relatives.
Following the announcement of a ceasefire, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) called for unrestricted access to deliver urgently needed food and aid to the coastal enclave.
According to the WFP, about 80,000 tons of food is waiting outside Gaza or en route – enough to feed more than a million residents for three months.
The conflict was triggered on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.
