JERUSALEM/CAIRO – The Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal on Friday, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza as early as Sunday and bringing a halt to 15 months of conflict that have devastated the coastal strip.
The accord is still conditional on the approval of the full cabinet, which was meeting on Friday afternoon.
The war between Israeli forces and Hamas has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed more than 46,000 people, and displaced most of the enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million several times over, according to local authorities.
If successful, a ceasefire could also ease hostilities in the Middle East, where the Gaza war spread to include Iran and its proxies – Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq as well as the occupied West Bank.
In Gaza itself on Friday, Israeli warplanes kept up heavy strikes, and medics and rescue authorities said that at least 104 Palestinians, including 58 women and children, had been killed since the deal was announced on Wednesday.
Under the six-week first phase of the three-stage deal, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50.
Israel will release all Palestinian women and children under 19 detained in Israeli jails by the end of the first phase. The total number of Palestinians released will depend on hostages released, and could be between 990 and 1 650 Palestinians, including men, women and children.
The Israeli Justice Ministry on Friday released a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the first exchange on Sunday.
Hamas said in a statement that obstacles that arose on the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have been resolved.
After a last-minute delay on Thursday that Israel blamed on Hamas, Netanyahu’s office in the early hours of Friday said Israel’s security cabinet would meet to approve the ceasefire accord. Hamas on Thursday said it was committed to the agreement, which takes effect on Sunday. (Reuters)
