Israel’s security cabinet has ratified a ceasefire deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and pause the 15-month war in Gaza for an initial six weeks.
The approval came after an unexpected delay that sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and the Palestinan militant group might scuttle the agreement. Far-right members of the coalition government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also threatened to vote against the deal or quit the government, potentially derailing months of work to end the conflict.
The deal will now go to the full cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners.
It was not immediately clear whether the cabinet would meet on Friday evening, after the beginning of the weekly observance of Shabbat, or wait until its conclusion on Saturday night, but the government has indicated that the deal is still supposed to come into effect on Sunday, as scheduled.
Israeli negotiators were expected to arrive in Cairo on Friday evening to discuss logistical coordination.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed the decision to approve the deal and said he expected “the government to do so as well soon”. “This is a vital step on the path to upholding the basic commitment a nation has to its citizens,” he said.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu’s hardline national security minister, who on Thursday announced that he would quit the government if it ratified the ceasefire deal, potentially collapsing the ruling coalition, issued a last-minute plea for other parliamentarians to vote against the agreement. “Everyone knows that these terrorists will try to harm again, try to kill again,” he said in a video statement.
According to Israeli media, Ben-Gvir and the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, voted against the deal, while the other ministers voted in favour. David Amsalem, a minister who is not part of the security cabinet’s voting plenary, raised his hand in opposition during the vote.
The Israeli high court is scheduled in the 24 hours after the deal passes to hear petitions against the release of Palestinian prisoners, but is widely expected not to intervene.
Under the first phase of the deal, which is to last 42 days, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women, including female soldiers, and men aged over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release are serving life sentences for violent attacks on Israelis; others were incarcerated for lesser offences, including social media posts, or held in administrative detention, which allows for the pre-emptive arrest of individuals based on undisclosed evidence.
Israel has stated that the names of the hostages will be made public only after they have been handed over to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A list containing the names of those who will be released over the next six weeks has been circulating on the main Israeli news sites since the early hours of Friday morning. Hamas is expected to publish the names of the hostages to be released on the first day, in the evening before the deal comes into effect.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said that the French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages to be freed.
The releases will be staggered. On Sunday, three Israeli hostages are expected to be released, followed by four more on the seventh day, and again at the end of each week of the ceasefire.
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