Netanyahu office says deal to release hostages now agreed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that an “agreement to release the hostages” had been agreed upon.

Netanyahu had postponed the Cabinet vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was scheduled to be held on Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking to make changes to the agreement at the last minute.

On Friday morning, his office said the negotiating team informed Netanyahu that agreements had been reached on the deal.

Netanyahu ordered the security political cabinet to convene later on Friday and that the government “will then convene to approve the deal,” Netanyahu’s office said. She added that the families of the hostages have been informed.

Israeli media reports stated that representatives of Israel, Hamas, the United States, and Qatar officially signed the agreement in Doha.

Ceasefire agreement It was first announced on Wednesday Through US and Qatar brokers.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that the agreement will enter into force on Sunday, pending approval by the Israeli Cabinet.

At the time, Netanyahu said the final details of the agreement were still being worked out, but he thanked Biden for “promoting” it.

Netanyahu then postponed a cabinet vote to approve the agreement on Thursday, accusing Hamas of trying to “extort last-minute concessions.”

Hamas said it was committed to the agreement, but the BBC has learned that it is trying to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released under the agreement.

Although Israeli negotiators agreed to the deal, which came after months of talks, it cannot be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and the government.

Many Palestinians and families of Israeli hostages celebrated the news of the ceasefire.

But the war on the ground in Gaza did not stopThe Hamas-run Health Ministry said Israeli raids had killed more than 80 people since the agreement was announced.

The Israeli army and the Israeli General Security Service said on Thursday that raids had been carried out on 50 targets in Gaza since the agreement was announced.

The first six-week phase of the deal will see 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east, away from densely populated areas of Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians will be able to begin returning to their homes and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed to enter the area every day.

Negotiations on the second phase – which is supposed to see the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to “sustainable calm” – are scheduled to begin on the 16th.

The third and final phase will include the return of any remaining hostage bodies and the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take years.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas — which Israel, the United States and others designate as a terrorist organization — in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 wounded. foreclose.

More than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, there is widespread destruction, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while relief agencies struggle to get aid to those in need.

Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, and 34 of them are presumed dead. There were four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.