At a meeting on Friday, the Israeli government officially approved the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement with the militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which was announced on Wednesday by mediators in Doha, Qatar. The ceasefire will take effect on Sunday. TASR informs about it according to AP and AFP agencies and The Times of Israel.
Government cabinet on Saturday night approved the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced. Thanks to that dozens of hostages will be released and the war will end, which started on October 7, 2023.
Disagreement with the agreement was announced in advance by several far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s government. Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir announced that if the agreement is approved, his party Jewish Power (Ocma Yehudit) will withdraw from the government coalition. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrič also spoke out against the agreement.
Ben Gvir in the last moments before the vote called on members of the government not to support the agreement. He pointed in particular to the security risks associated with the release of Palestinian prisoners, whom he called terrorists. “Everybody knows that these terrorists will try to hurt again, they will try to kill again,” he declared.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas was confirmed by mediators on Wednesday evening. The truce will officially begin on Sunday, January 19. The Israeli security cabinet was originally supposed to vote on the agreement already on Thursday. However, Netanyahu’s office announced the postponement of the meeting. She gave the reason that Hamas has not followed through on parts of the deal reached by mediators and Israel in an effort to force last-minute concessions.
Hamas has denied the accusation. At the time the Israeli cabinet voted on the deal, Hamas stated that the obstacles that arose in connection with the terms of the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip have been resolved.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which will last six weeks, will see the first exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. who are to be released by Hamas within the next six weeks. There are approximately 100 prisoners in the Gaza Strip, some of whom are believed to be dead.
The rest of the prisoners, including the soldiers, are to be released in the second phase, which, according to the AP agency, will be discussed during the first one. Hamas has declared that it will not release the remaining prisoners without a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian enclave.
