Israel approves ceasefire in Gaza, carries out more attacks By Reuters
By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
TEL AVIV/CAIRO (Reuters) – Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday that includes the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave ahead of the deal’s planned entry into force on Sunday.
The deal is intended to end a 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that has decimated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destabilized the Middle East.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israel, 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. Since then, more than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Early Saturday, after a meeting that lasted more than six hours, the Israeli Cabinet ratified the ceasefire agreement, which calls for an end to fighting and the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in return for scores of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Later, Netanyahu said Hamas had not yet provided the list of hostages that would be released and that Israel would not proceed without it.
In Gaza, Israeli warplanes have continued their attacks since the deal was agreed, bombing the area on Saturday.
Israeli tanks shelled the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City and airstrikes hit the central and southern Gaza Strip, residents said. Medics in Gaza said five people were killed in an airstrike on a tent in the Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants since Friday, among 50 “terror targets” across the Gaza Strip.
At least 123 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, nearly 47,000 people have been killed since the war began.
The first hostages will be released on Sunday
In Tel Aviv, a large clock in the so-called hostage square at the Israeli defense headquarters was still counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds since the hostage-taking. Since then, protests calling for her release have taken place there regularly.
Orly, a lawyer standing next to the clock, said that while she was glad an agreement had been reached, it had taken too long. “It should have been more than a year ago,” she said.
The Israelis must keep pressure on the government until all 98 hostages are home, she said.
The ceasefire in Gaza will come into effect at 06:30 GMT on Sunday, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesman posted on X. The White House expects three female hostages to be released to Israel via the Red Cross in the afternoon.
Under the deal, the three-stage ceasefire begins with an initial six-week phase in which hostages held by Hamas are exchanged for prisoners and detainees held in Israel.
Thirty-three of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages, including women, children, men over 50, and sick and wounded prisoners, are scheduled to be released during this phase. In return, Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
They include 737 male, female and teenage prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained since the war began.
Israel’s Justice Ministry released its details early Saturday along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released on Sunday for every female hostage.
Following the release of the hostages on Sunday, lead U.S. negotiator Brett McGurk said the deal calls for the release of four additional female hostages after seven days, followed by the release of three additional hostages every seven days thereafter.
SHOCK WAVES
Because the deal was opposed by some hardliners in the Israeli cabinet, 24 ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition government voted in favor of the deal while eight were against it, according to media reports. One of them was far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said his party had submitted letters of resignation on Sunday.
The Gaza conflict sent shockwaves across the region, sparking a war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and bringing Israel into direct conflict with Iran for the first time.
The Yemeni Houthis, also backed by Iran, have carried out hundreds of attacks on supposedly Israeli-linked cargo ships traveling across the Red Sea since the start of the Gaza war and fired rockets at Israel, which responded with airstrikes in Yemen.
At least two rockets were fired from Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli military said, triggering air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the southern resort of Eilat before they were intercepted.
In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian stabbed and injured a person before being shot by a passerby, according to police. His condition was not immediately clear.
