The first hostages will be freed on Sunday after Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet holds a full vote
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, paving the way for a full cabinet vote later on Friday. The ceasefire is expected to come into effect on Sunday.
Under a deal signed on Wednesday, Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to end their 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 1,100 Israelis and 46,000 Palestinians. The deal, which was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, is split into three phases. During the first phase, which is to last 42 days, Hamas said that it expects to release 33 hostages, including children, female soldiers, wounded and sick, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
“Following an evaluation of all diplomatic, security and humanitarian aspects, and while understanding that the proposed deal supports the achievement of the objectives of the war, the Security Cabinet has recommended that the Government approve the proposed framework,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement immediately after the vote.
The statement did not say how each member of the 11-member security cabinet voted.
With the security cabinet in agreement, the deal will immediately be voted on by Netanyahu’s full cabinet of ministers. The full cabinet vote was initially scheduled for Saturday, but was pushed forward to Friday, before the beginning of Shabbat.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to pull his hardline Jewish Power party from Netanyahu’s coalition government if the deal is approved, as has Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party. However, both parties are minor players in the government, and the ceasefire is expected to pass the cabinet vote.
Hamas will release the first Israeli hostages on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement earlier on Friday.
