"When the security cabinet and government have approved the agreement, the first hostages are expected to be released on Sunday," the Prime Minister's office wrote earlier on Friday in connection with the security cabinet giving its approval.
The first to be released are said to be three women. Over the next six weeks, another 30 people held captive in Gaza will be released in stages. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel will be released.
During the 42-day ceasefire, which is scheduled to start at 12:15 on Sunday, negotiations on the agreement's two next phases will be held. The goal is to reach a permanent end to the war.
Women and Young People
During the ceasefire, humanitarian aid will be allowed to flow into Gaza. Negotiations are reportedly underway on the reopening of the border crossing with Egypt in Rafah. Trucks were ready on the Egyptian side on Friday.
Israeli forces will remain in Gaza but will gradually withdraw from several specific routes and locations. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be allowed to return to what remains of their homes.
Israel's Justice Department has released a list of 700 Palestinian prisoners who will be released in the agreement's first phase. It includes several members of the terrorist-designated Hamas and Islamic Jihad, some of whom have been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, among other things.
The names of the hostages to be released from Gaza, many of whom were kidnapped during Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, will be made public only after they have been handed over to the Israeli military and their families have been informed, according to Netanyahu's office.
Ministers Refused
As early as Wednesday, the mediating countries Qatar, the USA, and Egypt announced that the parties had reached an agreement on a six-week ceasefire starting on Sunday.
But Israel has delayed formally approving the agreement and instead accused Hamas of trying to back out of the agreement at the last minute, which Hamas representatives have denied.
While Israel's mediators have been in final negotiations on the agreement's initial phase, specifically on the hostage issue, Netanyahu has been in talks with leaders of the far-right parties that he has built his government with.
Several ministers, including ultra-nationalist Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have opposed the ceasefire and threatened to resign.
During the terrorist-designated Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, around 250 people, most of them Israelis, were taken hostage and brought to Gaza. Some of them are still being held by Hamas and other armed extremist groups that participated in the attack.
During a week-long ceasefire in November 2023, over 100 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Several more Israelis have been freed by the country's military.
Currently, it is estimated that nearly 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. But it is unclear how many of them are still alive.
More than 46,700 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed since the start of the war, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
During the same period, nearly 1,600 Israelis have been killed, around 1,200 of them during the October 7 attack, according to Israeli authorities.
Almost the entire population of Gaza is on the move within the territory's borders, according to UN estimates. Many of them have been forced to flee several times. Large parts of Gaza's infrastructure lie in ruins.
