Israel's security cabinet has voted to approve the ceasefire agreement and release hostages, according to several media outlets.
The government is expected to convene at 14:30 Swedish time to finally approve the ceasefire. According to The Times of Israel, which cites a government spokesperson, the government meeting was not supposed to take place until Saturday evening.
"Once the security cabinet and government have approved the agreement, the first hostages are expected to be released on Sunday," a statement from the Prime Minister's office said on Friday morning.
Female Hostages
The first to be released are said to be three female soldiers. Over the next six weeks, an additional 30 people held captive in Gaza will be released. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel will be freed.
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 deal at the last minute. Hamas representatives, on the other hand, have stated that they stand behind the agreement presented by the mediators.
Divided Government
During the 42-day ceasefire, which is scheduled to start at 12:15 on Sunday, negotiations on the next two phases of the agreement will be held. The goal is to reach a permanent end to the war.
While Israel's mediators have been in final negotiations on the initial phase of the agreement, specifically on the hostage issue, Netanyahu has been in talks with leaders of the far-right parties that he has built his government with.
Ultra-nationalist Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened as recently as Thursday to resign if the government gives the green light to the ceasefire in Gaza. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has also been a vocal critic of the agreement, is said to have reached an agreement with Netanyahu during a meeting on Friday morning.
During the terrorist-stamped Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, around 250 people, mostly 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 other Israelis have been freed by the country's military.
Currently, it is estimated that nearly 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. However, 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 run within the strip's borders, according to UN estimates. Many of them have been forced to flee multiple times. Large parts of Gaza's infrastructure lie in ruins.
