Israel's cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal

The Israeli government has approved a new deal with Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, paving the way for the agreement to take effect on Sunday. This decision came after hours of discussions that stretched late into the night. Two far-right ministers voted against the agreement.

Earlier, Israel’s security cabinet recommended approving the deal, stating that it “supports the achievement of the goals of the war,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. This followed hours after both the Prime Minister's office and Hamas indicated they had finalized the details of the agreement. The deal was reached two days after mediators from Qatar, the US, and Egypt announced it.

Under the agreement, in the first phase lasting six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza will be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israeli forces will also withdraw from populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to their homes, and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed into the area daily.

Negotiations for the second phase will begin on the 16th day, and this phase should include the release of the remaining hostages, a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, and “the restoration of sustainable calm.” The third and final phase would involve the reconstruction of Gaza—which could take years—and the return of the remains of any remaining hostages. Qatar has said that the hostages released in the first phase would include “civilian women, female soldiers, children, the elderly, and sick and wounded civilians.” Israel has said it expects three hostages to be released on the first day of the ceasefire, with further groups released regularly over the following six weeks.

The Israeli military launched its operation in Gaza on October 7, 2023, aimed at destroying Hamas, after Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, and other countries. Since then, more than 46,870 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Most of the area’s 2.3 million people have also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and shelter, as it has been difficult to get aid to those who need it.

Israel says Hamas still holds 94 hostages, 34 of whom are presumed dead. In addition, four Israelis were kidnapped before the war began, two of whom have since died. Ahead of the Israeli government’s vote on the deal, Miki Zohar, the culture minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said: “This is a very difficult decision, but we decided to support it because seeing all our children, men and women coming home is very important to us.” He added: “We hope to finish the work in Gaza in the future.”

But far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he was “shocked” at the details of the deal, which included the release of “terrorists with life sentences” in exchange for hostages, and urged other ministers to join him in voting against it. On Thursday, Ben-Gvir announced that his Jewish Power party would leave the ruling coalition if the deal was approved. But he said he would not bring down the government in parliament and would return if the “war against Hamas resumes in full force.”

Another far-right politician opposed to the deal, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said his Religious Zionist party would leave if the war did not resume after the first phase. The three-phase structure has also caused division and anxiety among some families of the hostages. They fear their loved ones will be abandoned in Gaza after the first phase and have urged the government to ensure the second and third phases are also implemented.

“Our loved ones have been abandoned in captivity for 469 days, and now, finally, there is hope,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son Matan was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. “This deal must be carried through to the end, to bring everyone home, to end the war. It is in Israel’s interest to end the war, to bring everyone back, to return to normal.” The government’s vote had been scheduled for Thursday, but it was delayed after Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the deal—an accusation that Hamas denied.

In the early hours of Friday, the Prime Minister’s office announced that Israel’s negotiating team in Doha had finalized the agreement. Hamas also released a statement saying that “obstacles” related to 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 would be women. On Friday, the Israeli justice ministry released a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who it said would be among the first to be released in exchange for hostages. According to Agence France-Presse, they include 69 women, 16 men, and 10 minors.

A meeting was held in Cairo on Friday to discuss the mechanisms for implementing the deal, a senior Egyptian official told the BBC. According to the official, all necessary arrangements have been agreed upon, including the establishment of a joint operations room to ensure compliance, which will include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the US, Palestine, and Israel. Egypt's state-run Al-Qahera News television also cited a source saying they had agreed to facilitate the entry of 600 aid trucks per day during the ceasefire.

This would be more than a 14-fold increase from the daily average of 43 trucks reported by the UN in January. But Rick Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in Gaza, said the “potential is very high” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings are opened. The WHO also plans to deliver some prefabricated hospitals to support the heavily impacted healthcare sector. Half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are not functioning, while others are only partially operational.

Palestinians in Gaza have not had any respite since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday evening. Hamas’ civil defense agency in Gaza said 117 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since then, including 32 women and 30 children. Tamer Abu Shaban said his young niece was killed by missile shrapnel while playing in the yard of a school in Gaza City where her displaced family was sheltering. “Is this what they call a truce?” he told Reuters, standing by her body in a morgue. “What did this little girl, this child, do to deserve all of this?”

The Israeli military said on Thursday afternoon that it had carried out strikes on 50 “terror targets” in Gaza over the past day, and had taken steps to mitigate harm to civilians.