Israel's security cabinet approved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal on Friday. The wider cabinet will convene for a vote on the deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and pause the 15-month war for an initial six weeks later Friday. Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister's office confirmed that a deal has been agreed with Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza. The agreement, which US officials expect to take effect Sunday. The 11 voting members of the security cabinet approved the deal with a simple majority vote. The approval came after an unexpected delay that sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and Hamas could scuttle the agreement. Far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government also threatened to derail months of work to end the conflict. Hamas has accused Israel of unleashing "horrific massacres" in Gaza to "thwart" a ceasefire agreement in the enclave, which was announced on Wednesday. The Palestinian group said Israel had launched a "deliberate intensification" of aerial attacks after the ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced in the Qatari capital Doha this week. At least 111 Palestinians have been killed – including 28 children and 31 women – since the deal was announced, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, said on Friday. More than 264 people have been injured, Basal added. Israel is "deliberately committing these massacres in its quest to thwart the ceasefire agreement," Hamas said in a statement Friday, calling on mediators to pressure Israel to "stop the massacres." Israel's President Isaac Herzog welcomed the decision of the security cabinet to approve the deal and "expect the government to do so as well soon". "This is a vital step on the path to upholding the basic commitment a nation has to its citizens," he added. The ceasefire agreement will now go to the full 33-member Israeli cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners. The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene. Under the first phase of the deal, which is to last 42 days, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women – including female soldiers – and those aged over 50. In exchange, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas, and 30 for other female hostages. Israel has stated that the names of the hostages would be made public only after they had been handed over to the IDF. A list containing the names of those who will be released over the next six weeks has been circulating on the main Israeli news sites since the early hours of Friday morning. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said that the French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages to be freed. The deal will also allow in the first phase Palestinians displaced from their homes to be allowed to move freely around the Gaza Strip, which Israel has cut into two halves with a military corridor. Wounded people are supposed to be evacuated for treatment abroad, and aid to the territory should increase to 600 trucks a day, above the 500 minimum that aid agencies say is needed to contain Gaza's devastating humanitarian crisis. In the second phase, the remaining living hostages would be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners would be freed, and Israel would completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase. The third phase would address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza would be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy. The Biden administration and much of the international community have advocated for the semi-autonomous West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007, to return to the strip. Israel, however, has repeatedly rejected the suggestion. Israeli negotiators are due to arrive in Cairo on Friday evening to discuss the logistical coordination of the agreement. More than 15 months of war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and laid waste most of Gaza's infrastructure. The international court of justice is studying claims that Israel has committed genocide. — Agencies
