Andrew Mills, Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie
DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s cabinet will meet to give final approval to a deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday.
In Gaza itself, Israeli warplanes continued their intense strikes, and the Palestinian Authority said late Thursday that at least 86 people had been killed in the day after the ceasefire was announced.
With lingering divisions among ministers evident, Israel postponed meetings expected on Thursday when the government was expected to vote on the pact, blaming Hamas for the hold-up.
But in the early hours of Friday morning, Netanyahu’s office said approval was imminent.
“The negotiating team has informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that agreements have been reached on the release of the hostages,” his office said in a statement.
The security cabinet will meet on Friday before a full cabinet meeting later to approve the deal, it said.
It was not immediately clear whether the full cabinet would meet on Friday or Saturday, or whether the start of the cease-fire would be delayed on Sunday.
White House spokesman John Kirby (NYSE: ) said Washington believed the agreement was on track and expected to resume a ceasefire in the 15-month conflict “as early as the end of this weekend.”
“We don’t see anything that tells us this is going to derail at this point,” he told CNN on Thursday.
A group representing the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom are due to be freed in the first six-week phase of the deal, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward quickly.
“For the 98 hostages, every night is another night of a terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night,” the group said in a statement late Thursday carried by Israeli media.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier Thursday that a “loose end” in the talks needed to be resolved.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the dispute was over the identity of some prisoners Hamas wanted to free. Envoys from President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump were in Doha with Egyptian and Qatari mediators working to resolve the issue, the official said.
Senior Hamas official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire agreement.
Inside Gaza, joy over the truce gave way to sadness and anger over the increased bombardment that followed Wednesday’s announcement of a cease-fire.
Tamer Abu Shaaban’s voice broke as he stood over the tiny body of his young niece wrapped in a white shroud in a Gaza morgue. She was hit in the back by shrapnel from a missile while playing in the yard of the school where the family had taken shelter, he said.
“Is this the truce they’re talking about? What did this young girl, this child, do to deserve this?” he asked.
A VOTE IS EXPECTED
Israel’s acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the security cabinet and government. The Prime Minister’s Office did not comment on the timing.
Some political analysts speculated that the start of the cease-fire, scheduled for Sunday, could be delayed if Israel does not finalize the approval by Saturday.
Hardliners in Netanyahu’s government, who say the war has not achieved its goal of wiping out Hamas and should not end until it does, had hoped to stop the deal.
However, most ministers were expected to support the agreement.
In Jerusalem, some Israelis marched through the streets carrying fake coffins to protest the ceasefire, blocking roads and clashing with police. Other protesters blocked traffic until security forces dispersed them.
The ceasefire deal emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US. The agreement outlines an initial six-week ceasefire with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Dozens of hostages taken by Hamas, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
It paves the way for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, where most of the population is displaced, facing hunger, disease and cold.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen stormed Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
If successful, the truce would halt fighting that has leveled much of urbanized Gaza, killed more than 46,000 people and displaced most of the tiny enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million, according to Gaza authorities.
