Israeli cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas

An agreement involving the exchange of people held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel is set to take effect on Sunday. After more than 460 days of war, in which Israeli forces have killed over 46,788 Palestinians and injured 110,453, Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved a deal with Hamas for a truce in Gaza.

The Israeli government approved the truce agreement on Saturday morning after a meeting that lasted more than six hours. "The government has approved the framework for the return of hostages," Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement. "The framework for the release of hostages will take effect on Sunday."

Despite strong opposition to the agreement from some hardliners within the Israeli cabinet, media reports stated that 24 ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition government voted in favor of the deal, while eight voted against it. The Israeli security cabinet had previously voted in favor of the truce agreement on Friday. According to the deal, the truce will begin with an initial six-week phase, during which people held in Gaza will be released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel, opening the door to ending the 15-month-long war.

Following the cabinet's approval of the truce, Israeli authorities released an updated list of 737 Palestinian detainees who will be released in the first phase of the agreement, which will begin "no earlier than" 4 pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday. The list includes several members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the ruling Fatah movement of the Palestinian Authority who are serving life sentences, according to The Times of Israel.

The US’s chief negotiator in the truce talks, Brett McGurk, said the White House expects the truce to begin on Sunday morning, with three female detainees to be released to Israel via the Red Cross on Sunday afternoon. "We have locked down every single detail of this agreement. We are very confident...it is ready to be implemented on Sunday," McGurk said in a television interview at the White House. McGurk said that after the release of the detainees on Sunday, the agreement calls for another four female detainees to be released after seven days, followed by three additional detainees every seven days.

Despite the truce agreement being announced on Wednesday by mediators Qatar, Egypt, and the US, Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued, with nearly 120 people killed in the Palestinian enclave since then. The war-ravaged Gaza should also now see a surge in humanitarian aid. On Friday, trucks carrying aid supplies lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing to enter southern Gaza. An Egyptian official said a delegation from the Israeli military and Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

In the first phase of the truce, Israeli forces will also withdraw from many areas of Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be able to return to the ruins of their homes in the northern parts of the territory. The Israeli military said that as its forces gradually withdraw from specific locations and routes in Gaza, residents will not be allowed to return to areas where forces are stationed or that are close to the Israel-Gaza border. The military also warned that any threat to Israeli forces “will be met with a strong response.”

While long-term questions about post-war Gaza remain, including who will govern the territory and the daunting task of reconstruction, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced on Friday that it is ready to assume its “full responsibilities” in the Gaza Strip. The PA is “fully prepared to assume its duties to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza,” the Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a PA statement as saying.

The PA’s statement also reiterated the position expressed by the body’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, that the group has legal and political jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip, just as it does in the West Bank and other occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, while the PA exercises partial civil control in the occupied West Bank. Israeli and Arab media have also reported that the PA has sent a delegation to Egypt to discuss how to manage the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip as the truce takes effect, so that the body can take over the management of this crucial border point.