Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuʼs office confirmed that the negotiating teams of Israel and Hamas militants have signed an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
This is reported by The Times of Israel.
The agreements were reached in the Qatari city of Doha. A statement from the prime ministerʼs office said Netanyahu had called a security cabinet meeting for January 17 to vote on the deal.
The full cabinet meeting will not take place until the evening of January 18. Netanyahu’s spokesman explained that opponents of the deal need to be given 24 hours to file a petition with the Supreme Court. A meeting on Friday would not give the officials enough time, as many of them are religious and observe the Sabbath.
At the same time, it is unclear why in this case the religious principle that allows violating the customs of the sacred day for the sake of saving life does not apply, the publication writes.
The full cabinet meeting on Saturday means the 24-hour appeal period will not end until Sunday. So the deal will not come into effect until Monday, a day later than planned. The first three hostages, who were due to be released on Sunday, will have to wait another day.
Gaza ceasefire agreement
On the evening of January 15, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. This was confirmed by the US President-elect Donald Trump.
If successful, the deal would end the fighting in the Gaza Strip and allow Israel to return its citizens held captive by Hamas. At the same time, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners. It could also ease tensions in the Middle East, where conflicts continue in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
In the first phase, IDF will withdraw to within 700 meters of the Gaza Strip, Israel will release approximately 2 000 Palestinians and Hamas will release 33 Israeli prisoners. Israel will allow the wounded in Gaza to move through the territory to receive medical care and will open the Rafah crossing with Egypt. IDF troops will begin to withdraw from the Philadelphia Corridor.
Netanyahu later stated that Hamas militants were creating a "last-minute crisis," so ministers would not approve the deal until they received confirmation that the group was not "violating the agreements".
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.