Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed a cabinet vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was due to take place on Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking last-minute changes to the agreement.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that a "standstill" was being resolved and that he was confident that the ceasefire would begin on Sunday, as planned.
Although Israeli negotiators agreed after months of talks, the deal with Hamas cannot be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and the government.
Hamas has said it is committed to the deal, but Israelis believe it is trying to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the deal.
Finally, Netanyahu's office officially confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning that "an agreement has been reached for the release of the hostages" held in the Gaza Strip, adding that his government's "security council" is scheduled to meet later in the day to vote and approve it.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached for the release of the hostages," his office said in a statement. The narrowly-composed cabinet is expected to meet today to discuss it, it added.
However, its approval was postponed until tomorrow, Saturday, according to reports in the Israeli press, which underlines that this means that the first hostage releases will not take place until Monday and not Sunday, as was predicted based on what was announced by countries that mediated in the indirect negotiations.
The delay came after Israeli strikes on Gaza that followed the announcement of the deal on Wednesday killed more than 80 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
US 'confident' deal will enter into force on Sunday
A few hours before the scheduled meeting on Thursday morning, Netanyahu accused Hamas of trying to "extort last-minute concessions."
The cabinet will not convene until Hamas accepts "all elements of the agreement," his office said in a statement.
Blinken said such a delay was expected in such a "difficult" situation.
"It's not exactly surprising that in a process and a negotiation that has been so difficult and challenging, there could be a deadlock," he said at a press conference in Washington.
"We are settling this outstanding matter as we speak."
He said the US is "confident" that the agreement will go into effect on Sunday, as scheduled, and that the ceasefire will be respected.
The vote is on Saturday – Reactions from the far right
Israel's cabinet expects to hold a full vote on the ceasefire-hostage agreement on Saturday, according to an Israeli official. The smaller security cabinet will meet on Friday to vote on the agreement, the official said.
A majority of Israeli ministers are expected to support the deal, but late Thursday, Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his right-wing party would leave Netanyahu's government if it was approved.
The ultranationalist Minister of Security the day before yesterday called the agreement "a complete disaster."
"This actually erases the war profits that were acquired at the cost of the blood of our soldiers in Gaza," stressed the far-right minister, who from the beginning of the war was opposed to ending it.
However, he said his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party would not seek to overthrow the government if the deal is ratified. He even called on the leader of the government's other far-right party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party, to resign with him.
A few days ago, the other far-right government minister also expressed his disagreement with any agreement that would end the war.
Meanwhile, the head of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, officially informed Qatar and Egypt of the approval of all the terms of the agreement.
When does the hostage release begin?
If the ceasefire agreement goes into effect Sunday as planned, three female hostages are expected to be released on Monday, two U.S. officials told CNN. They would be the first of 33 hostages in Gaza, both dead and alive, to be released under the first phase of the deal. Hamas announced the same on Wednesday.
The hostages to be released in the first phase are the so-called "humanitarian" cases: women - including soldiers - elderly men and the wounded. Male soldiers or men of war age are expected to be released only in a second phase.
This aligns with a document shared on Wednesday by senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, which stated that three female hostages would be released first.
The ceasefire and hostage agreement is expected to come into effect on January 19 and include three phases, each lasting 42 days, according to the document.
Mental health care for hostages
The Defense Ministry and the Israeli army are ready to provide "emotional support" and "mental health care" to the released hostages, the ministry announced on Thursday.
Defense Minister Israel Katz and an Israel Defense Forces official said that "all the ministry's capabilities will be devoted to implementing the hostage release agreement, welcoming the returning hostages and supporting their families."
The Ministry of Defense will emphasize "close medical and psychological care and support and enhance emotional support and guidance for all families" of the returning hostages, the statement continued.
The three phases
In the first six-week phase of the deal, 33 hostages - including women, children and the elderly - will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Israeli troops will also withdraw eastward, away from densely populated areas of Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians could begin returning to their homes and hundreds of trucks with humanitarian aid could enter the territory every day.
Negotiations for the second phase – which should provide for the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and a return to “sustainable calm” – would begin on the 16th.
The third and final stage would involve the return of the bodies of the remaining hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take years.
Bombardments continue in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes continued after the deal was announced on Wednesday. At least 80 people were killed in Gaza City, where a doctor said staff "did not rest for a minute" during the "bloody night."
The raids were carried out on 50 targets in Gaza after the agreement was announced, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Service said in a statement.
The prime minister of Qatar - who mediated the negotiations - called for "calm" from both sides before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas - which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and others - in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1.200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.
More than 46.788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry.
Most of Gaza's 2,3 million residents have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while aid organizations struggle to deliver aid to those in need.
Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. There are four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.
Source: protothema.gr
Discussion about this post