The Israeli Cabinet approves the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with Hamas News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved an agreement with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza after more than 460 days of war in which Israeli forces killed more than 46,788 Palestinians and wounded 110,453 others.

Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement that the Israeli government ratified the ceasefire agreement early Saturday morning after a meeting that lasted more than six hours.

“The government has approved the framework for the return of hostages. The framework for the release of hostages will enter into force on Sunday,” she added.

With some hard-liners in the Israeli government strongly opposing the agreement, media reports stated that 24 ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition government voted in favor of the agreement, while eight opposed it. The Israeli security cabinet had voted in favor of the ceasefire agreement earlier on Friday.

Under the agreement, the ceasefire begins with an initial six-week phase in which prisoners in Gaza are released in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, opening the way to an end to the 15-month-old war.

Following the Cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire, Israeli authorities issued an updated list of the names of 737 Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released in the first phase of the agreement, which will take place “no earlier than” 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday. .

The list includes a number of members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the ruling Fatah movement in the Palestinian Authority, who are serving life sentences, according to the Times of Israel.

Brett McGurk, the chief American negotiator in the ceasefire talks, said that the White House expects the ceasefire to begin on Sunday morning, with the release of three female prisoners to Israel on Sunday afternoon through the Red Cross.

“We have secured every detail in this agreement. We are very confident… it is ready to go on Sunday,” McGurk said in a television interview from the White House.

After the prisoners were released on Sunday, McGurk said that the agreement called for the release of four more female prisoners after seven days, followed by the release of three more female prisoners every seven days after that.

Despite a ceasefire agreement announced by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States on Wednesday, Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued, with nearly 120 people killed in the Palestinian enclave since then.

War-torn Gaza should now see an increase in humanitarian aid. Trucks loaded with aid lined up on Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip.

An Egyptian official said that an Israeli delegation from the army and the Israeli Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing.

Israeli forces will also withdraw from many areas in Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be able to return to what remains of their homes in the northern Strip.

The Israeli army said that as its forces gradually withdraw from specific locations and roads in Gaza, residents will not be allowed to return to areas where forces are present or near the border between Israel and Gaza.

The army also warned that any threat to Israeli forces “will face a strong response.”

While long-term questions remain about post-war Gaza, including who will govern the area and the arduous task of reconstruction, the Palestinian Authority announced on Friday that it is ready to assume its “full responsibilities” in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Wafa News Agency quoted a statement by the Palestinian Authority in which the Authority said that its employees are “fully prepared to carry out their duties and alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza.”

The Palestinian Authority statement also renewed the position expressed by Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the movement has legal and political jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip, just like the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, while the Palestinian Authority exercises partial civilian control over the occupied West Bank.

Israeli and Arab media also reported that the Palestinian Authority sent a delegation to Egypt to discuss the management of the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip with the entry into force of the ceasefire, with the aim of the Authority assuming management of the main border point.