The Albany Gazette - Israeli security cabinet meets on ceasefire deal

If approved, the agreement would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza's deadliest-ever war and initiate the release of dozens of hostages held in the territory since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Under the deal struck by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, the ensuing weeks should also see the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The ceasefire, due to begin Sunday after more than a year of war, would take effect on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as president of the United States.

"The security cabinet meeting to discuss and vote on the deal has started," an Israeli official told AFP.

"Subject to the approval of the cabinet and the government, and the implementation of the agreement, the release of the hostages can proceed according to the planned framework, with the hostages expected to be released as early as Sunday," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Gaza rescuers said Thursday that Israeli strikes killed dozens of people, while Israel's military reported hitting about 50 targets across the territory over the past day.

But even before the start of the truce, Gazans displaced by the war to other parts of the territory were preparing to return to their homes.

"I am waiting for Sunday morning when they will announce the ceasefire," said Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp further south in the territory.

"I will go to kiss my land, and I already regret leaving Gaza and my land. If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person."

In Israel, there was joy but also pain over the fate of hostages who have died or been killed since their capture.

In Tel Aviv, pensioner Simon Patya said he felt "great joy" that some hostages would return alive, but also "great sorrow for those who are returning in bags, and that will be a very strong blow, morally".

- 'Confident' -

The lead-up to Friday's meeting has been fraught with uncertainty, with Netanyahu's office accusing Hamas of reneging on key parts of the deal to extort last-minute concessions -- an allegation Hamas denied.

His office said Friday a "deal to release the hostages" had been reached, however, as he ordered the security cabinet to meet.

"The government will then convene to approve the deal," it added.

At least two far-right cabinet members have voiced opposition to the deal, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose government is Israel's close ally, said he believed the ceasefire would go ahead on schedule.

"I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday," he said.

- Dozens killed -

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israel pounded several areas of the territory after the deal was announced on Wednesday, killing more than 100 people and wounding hundreds since then.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages due to be freed under the deal, and could turn their "freedom... into a tragedy".

During the attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's ensuing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

- Trump and Biden -

The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators after months of fruitless negotiations, and with Trump's team taking credit for working with US President Joe Biden's administration to seal the deal.

"If we weren't involved in this deal, the deal would've never happened," Trump said in an interview Thursday.

A senior Biden official said the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the agreement on Wednesday, said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see 33 hostages released, including women, "children, elderly people, as well as civilian ill people and wounded".

Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza's densely populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return "to their residences", he said.

Biden said the second phase of the agreement could bring a "permanent end to the war".

He added the deal would "surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country borders Gaza and Israel, underscored the "importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid" into the devastated territory.

Egypt said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.

G7 leaders called the ceasefire deal "a significant development" and urged Israel and Hamas to work on its "full implementation."

The World Health Organization's representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, said Thursday that at least $10 billion would probably be needed over the next five to seven years to rebuild Gaza's devastated health system alone.

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(N.Miller--TAG)