Under the terms of the deal, agreed during negotiations in Qatar, all 98 hostages will be released, 33 of them during the initial six-week cease-fire.
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a cease-fire deal with Hamas on Friday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed an agreement had been finalized.
It means the cease-fire has passed a major hurdle, but the deal still needs to be approved by the full Cabinet of the Israeli government, which is set to meet shortly before the Jewish Shabbat begins, on Friday afternoon.
Time may also be given to legal challenges by those opposed to the cease-fire but prior to Friday’s meeting, Netanyahu’s office posted on X, said, “Pending approval by the Security Cabinet and the government, and the agreement taking effect, the release of the hostages will be implemented according to the planned framework in which the hostages are expected to be released on Sunday.”
On Friday, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog wrote on X, “I welcome the Cabinet’s decision to approve the deal brought forward by the Prime Minister and the negotiating team. I expect the government to do so soon. This is a vital step on the path to realizing the highest covenant between a state and its citizens.”
“There is no greater moral, human, Jewish, and Israeli obligation,” he added.
On Thursday, Netanyahu delayed the Cabinet vote on the Gaza cease-fire after accusing Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in a bid “to extort last-minute concessions.”
Israel and Hamas have been at war for 15 months, after the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group mounted a cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage.
Many of the hostages have been released, or their bodies repatriated, but 98 are outstanding and under the first part of the three-phase agreement 33 of them will be released during the initial six-week cease-fire, which is due to start on Jan. 19.
In the early hours of Friday, Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the returning hostages, and had informed their families a deal had been reached.
The cease-fire agreement—which would involve Israeli troops eventually withdrawing from the Gaza Strip—was negotiated over several months in Doha, with the Qatari government acting as mediators.
One of the most controversial aspects of the deal is the release of around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners at the same time as the hostages.
