The office of the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams they signed a ceasefire agreement in Doha and release of hostages.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office reported by the Times of Israel said the prime minister had called a security cabinet meeting for tomorrow to vote on the deal: “Subject to cabinet and government approval, and the entry into force of the ‘agreement, the release of the hostages it could be carried out according to the established plan, with the possibility that the hostages will be freed as early as Sunday.”
The Israeli negotiating team called Netanyahu shortly before 3 a.m. ET to inform him that the deal had been reached. The prime minister thanked them for their efforts.
The families of the 98 hostages still in the hands of Hamas have also been updated and the prime minister has instructed the authorities to work on preparations to welcome them as soon as they are freed. “The State of Israel is committed to achieving all objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages, both alive and dead,” adds the statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The bombing that had put the agreement at risk
THE’civil defense agency of Gaza stated that Israel bombed several areas of the territory after the deal was announced, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli attacks were putting the lives of hostages who are to be freed under the deal at risk and could turn their “freedom into a tragedy”. The ceasefire agreement was the result of stepped-up efforts by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States after months of fruitless negotiations to end the most devastating war in Gaza’s history. If finalized, it would end hostilities a day before US President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.
Envoys from both Trump’s team and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden were present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing was a deciding factor in reaching the deal.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the deal, said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see the release of 33 hostages, including women, “children, elderly people, as well as civilians.” sick and injured.” Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow displaced Palestinians to return “to their residences,” he said. Biden said the second phase of the deal could bring a “permanent end to the war” and added that the deal would “increase much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite hostages with their families.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also underlined “the importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza. Cairo said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it will take more than a decade to restore civilian infrastructure.