If approved by the Israeli cabinet, a ceasefire will take effect in Gaza on Sunday [Getty/file photo]
Israel’s security cabinet was set to meet Friday after final details of a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal were ironed out, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, with the United States “confident” the truce would begin as planned this weekend.
If approved by Israel’s cabinet, the ceasefire agreement would take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of 33 Israeli captives for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.
Away from the diplomacy, Israeli strikes killed dozens of people, Gaza rescuers said on Thursday, while Israel’s military reported hitting about 50 targets across the territory over the past day.
Netanyahu’s office said early on Friday a “deal to release the hostages” had been reached and he had ordered the political-security cabinet to meet later in the day.
“The government will then convene to approve the deal,” it added.
At least two cabinet members have voiced strong opposition to the ceasefire, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir saying that he and his party colleagues would quit the government – but not the ruling coalition – if it approved the “irresponsible” deal.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also opposes the truce, calling it a “dangerous deal”.
But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been involved in months of mediation efforts, said on Thursday he believed the ceasefire would go ahead on schedule.
“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” he said.
Continued strikes
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israel pounded several areas of the territory after the deal was announced on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds since then.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of captives due to be freed under the deal, and could turn their “freedom… into a tragedy”.
Israel’s military campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, in atrocities decried as genocidal by several world leaders, NGOs and experts.
Mixed feelings
The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States, after months of fruitless negotiations to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history.
If finalised, it would pause hostilities one day before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
Envoys from both the Trump team and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden were present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.
In Israel and Gaza, there were celebrations welcoming the truce deal, but also anguish.
Saeed Alloush, who lives in north Gaza, said he and his loved ones were “waiting for the truce and were happy”, until overnight strikes killed many of his relatives.
“It was the happiest night since October 7” until “we received the news of the martyrdom of 40 people from the Alloush family”, he said.
In Tel Aviv, pensioner Simon Patya said he felt “great joy” that some captives would return alive, but also “great sorrow for those who are returning in bags, and that will be a very strong blow, morally”.
‘Permanent end’
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the agreement on Wednesday, said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see 33 captives released, including women, “children, elderly people, as well as civilian ill people and wounded”.
Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return “to their residences”, he said.
Biden said the second phase of the agreement could bring a “permanent end to the war”.
He added the deal would “surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the captives with their families”.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also underscored the “importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza.
Cairo said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.
The World Health Organization’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, said Thursday that at least $10 billion would probably be needed over the next five to seven years to rebuild Gaza’s devastated health system alone.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to start later this month, welcomed the ceasefire deal.
“What’s needed is rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.