The Israeli cabinet will meet to give final approval to a deal with militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and a release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday.
In Gaza itself, Israeli warplanes kept up intense strikes, and the Civil Emergency Service said on Friday that at least 101 people, including 58 women and children, had been killed since the deal was announced.
With longstanding divisions apparent among ministers, Israel delayed meetings expected on Thursday when the cabinet was expected to vote on the pact, blaming Hamas for the holdup.
But in the early hours of Friday, Netanyahu’s office said approval was imminent and the restricted security cabinet was to meet on Friday before a full cabinet meeting to ratify the deal that will be held later.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages,” his office said in a statement.
Hamas is expected to release the first hostages under a Gaza ceasefire deal on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said.
‘An unbearable hell’
Underscoring the potential obstacles facing a final ceasefire, hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition have opposed the deal as a capitulation to Hamas, which runs Gaza, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it is approved. However, he said he would not bring down the government.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another hardliner, has also threatened to quit the government if it does not go back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire was completed.
If successful, the ceasefire would halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanized Gaza, killed over 46,000 people according to Palestinian authorities and displaced most of the tiny enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million several times over.
Palestinians are also suffering from a humanitarian crisis that includes shortages of food, fuel and water.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians, including several Canadian citizens, and abducting over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
In Gaza on Friday, mourners gathered around the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike as women hugged each other and cried.
“Life has become an unbearable hell,” said resident Jomaa Abed al-Aal.
In the aftermath of one strike on tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis, a boy picked through damaged items on the floor that was littered with canned food and coffee pots.
That attack killed two people and wounded seven others at an encampment close to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to medics.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strikes.
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6 weeks long
A group representing families of Israeli hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom are due to be freed in the first six-week phase of the accord, urged Netanyahu to move forward quickly.
“For the 98 hostages, each night is another night of terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night,” the group said in a statement late on Thursday carried by Israeli media.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday a “loose end” in the negotiations needed to be resolved.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal.
The ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Dozens of hostages taken by Hamas including women, children, elderly and sick people would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
It paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the majority of the population has been displaced, facing hunger, sickness and cold.
