JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s full Cabinet was meeting Friday evening on a Gaza ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas and release dozens of hostages.
The security Cabinet recommended the deal’s approval earlier in the day, and the full Cabinet was expected to approve the ceasefire, which could start as soon as Sunday. The deal has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, whose objections could destabilize his government.
The Cabinet was meeting well past the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, a rare occurrence and a reflection of the moment’s importance. In line with Jewish law, the Israeli government usually halts all business for the Sabbath except in emergency cases of life or death.
Israel and Hamas have been under growing pressure from both U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and President-elect Donald Trump to reach a deal before Trump takes office Monday.
Mediators Qatar and the U.S. had announced the ceasefire Wednesday, but the deal hung in limbo for more than a day as Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute complications he blamed on Hamas.
The militants maintained they were committed to the deal, while residents of Gaza and families of the hostages anxiously waited to see whether it would materialize.
“Now we have reached the moment of no return, and we are all crossing our fingers,” activist Ester Taranto said at a gathering of hostages’ families and supporters in Tel Aviv.
Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 remain.
Israel responded with a devastating offensive that has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.
The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Fighting continued into Friday, and Gaza’s Health Ministry said 88 bodies had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
A three-phase deal
Netanyahu instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and said their families were informed a deal had been reached. The prime minister’s office said if the deal passes, the ceasefire could start Sunday and the first hostages could be freed then.
Under the deal, 33 of the hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over six weeks in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israel’s justice ministry published a list Friday of 95 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the deal’s first phase and said the release will not begin before 4 p.m. local time Sunday. All on the list are younger people or female.
Israeli forces will pull back from many areas in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
Israel’s military said that as its forces gradually withdraw, residents will not be allowed to return to areas where troops are present or near the Israel-Gaza border, and any threat to Israeli forces “will be met with a forceful response.”
