Netanyahu’s office says a deal to release the hostages has now been agreed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says a “deal to release the hostages” has been agreed.

Netanyahu delayed a cabinet vote to approve a ceasefire deal in Gaza on Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking last-minute changes to the deal.

On Friday morning, his office said that Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached in this agreement.

He ordered the political security cabinet to meet later on Friday and the government “will then meet to approve the deal,” Netanyahu’s office said. The families of the kidnappers have been informed, it added.

Representatives of Israel, Hamas, the United States, and Qatar officially signed the agreement in Doha, Israeli media reported.

A cease-fire agreement it was first announced on Wednesday through US and Qatari mediators.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement will come into force on Sunday, pending the approval of the Israeli cabinet.

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

Netanyahu then delayed a cabinet vote to approve the deal on Thursday, accusing Hamas of trying to “squeeze approval at the last minute”.

Hamas has said it is committed to the deal, but the BBC understands that it was trying to include some of its members on the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the deal.

Although Israeli negotiators have agreed to the deal, which follows months of negotiations, it will not 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 did not end in Gazaas Israeli strikes have killed more than 80 people since the agreement was announced, said the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Strikes have taken place on 50 targets in Gaza since the agreement was announced, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency said on Thursday.

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

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east, away from congested areas in Gaza.

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

The second phase of talks – which should see the release of remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to “stable calm” – will begin on the 16th.

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

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and others – in response to an unprecedented attack on the Israeli border on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were killed. . they were captured.

More than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area.

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

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