Netanyahu's Office Confirms Hostage Release Deal After His Cabinet Delayed Vote To Approve Truce
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu confirms a deal to release the hostages after he delayed a cabinet vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that a "deal to release the hostages" has been agreed. On Thursday, Netanyahu had delayed a cabinet vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal and accused Hamas of attempting to backtrack on parts of the deal, which the militant group denied.
On Friday, Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements on the deal had been reached.
According to the BBC, the Israeli prime minister’s office had announced that he had ordered the political-security cabinet to convene later on Friday, after which the government “will then convene to approve the deal.” It further mentioned that the families of hostages have been informed.
Representatives of Israel, Hamas, the United States, and Qatar have officially signed the deal in Doha, the report said. On Wednesday, the ceasefire deal was first announced by mediators the US and Qatar which was met with celebrations from Israelis and people in Gaza.
The ceasefire comes shortly after Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who was mediating the talks, met separately with Hamas and Israeli delegations to resolve the dispute. The first of the three ceasefire phases is set to go into force on Sunday, though it is still pending approval from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet. The second phase will begin after 42 days if the first is successful.
At the time, Netanyahu said the deal's final details were still being worked on, but he thanked Biden for "promoting" it.
Netanyahu then delayed a cabinet vote to approve the deal on Thursday, accusing Hamas of trying to "extort last minute concessions". As per BBC, Hamas said it was committed to the deal, but it was trying to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners that would be released under the deal.
Although Israeli negotiators have agreed to the deal after months of talks, it cannot be implemented until it receives approval from the security cabinet and the government. The security cabinet and then the government will need to convene to finalise and sign the agreement.
Each Phase After Sunday
During the first six-week phase of the deal, 33 hostages including women, children and elderly people exchanged – for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli troops would withdraw to the east, away from densely populated areas of Gaza. Meanwhile, displaced Palestinians would be able to start returning to their homes and hundreds of aid lorries would be allowed entry to the territory each day.
During the second phase, the remaining hostages would be released, a full Israeli troop would be withdrawn returning to "sustainable calm" would start on the 16th day.
In the third and final stage, any remaining hostages' bodies would be returned and Gaza would be reconstructed – which is something that could take years.
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