The Israeli government has ratified a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip that provides for the release of Hamas hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office announced.
The cabinet meeting lasted more than six hours and ended in the early hours of Saturday morning.
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“The government has approved the plan to release the hostages,” the statement issued by the Israeli prime minister’s office said, adding that the agreement “will enter into force on Sunday, January 19, 2025.”
The deal was fiercely opposed by some hard-liners in the cabinet, who left their decision written on some papers and walked out because Friday evening marked the start of the Israeli holy day, Shabbat.
According to Israeli media, the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip was approved with 24 votes in favor to eight against.
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The security cabinet voted in favor of the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voting against. Both have threatened to quit the government if a ceasefire agreement is approved.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that US President-elect Donald Trump has given his full support to Israel resuming the war if Hamas violates the deal and unfreezes arms shipments.
On Sunday the start of the truce
The agreed truce, opposed by hardline members of the ruling coalition, initially calls for a six-week ceasefire beginning on Sunday, January 19, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
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Yesterday Friday, Israel’s national security council had approved the ceasefire agreement, paving the way for its ratification by the cabinet.
In the first phase, the gradual opening of the crossings will begin to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian enclave, while at the same time the process of releasing the hostages and exchanging them with the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons will begin.
The large-scale offensive launched 15 months ago by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, following the carnage caused by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which left 1,210 dead and 251 hostages, has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and leveled much of the enclave. .
During the first of three phases of the truce, Hamas must release 33 hostages: women, children and men over 50. In exchange, all Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons will be released. The total number of Palestinians released will depend on the number of hostages released by Hamas.
The agreement also foresees that 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter the Gaza Strip every day. 50 of these will supply the enclave with fuel and 300 will be directed to the northern areas of the enclave.
The implementation of the agreement will be guaranteed by Qatar, Egypt and the USA.
Negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire will begin on the 16th day of the first phase and are expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian enclave.
The third phase will involve the return of all dead hostages and the start of the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
What the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement includes
1. Complete and total ceasefire for six weeks
2. Thirty-three Israeli hostages will be released in total, three on Sunday and the rest later, starting first with women and children and then with men over 50.
3. Israel will withdraw its troops from all residential areas of Gaza and allow 600 aid trucks to enter per day.
4. Thirty Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons to be released for every one civilian hostage
5. Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier
6. Israel is expected to release all Palestinian women and children under the age of 19 held by October 7, 2023.
7. On the 16th day, detailed negotiations for the second and third stages begin.
The 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire
The government’s hostage and missing persons coordination unit on Friday (January 17) notified the families of the 33 Israeli hostages expected to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The people on the list, who will be returned within 42 days, are so-called “humanitarian” cases, meaning women, children, the elderly and the disabled. The first three hostages to be released will be women.
Israel has not been told how many of the 33 are alive, although it expects the majority to be. Some unconfirmed media reports said Israel insisted on receiving the living among the 33 first, with the bodies returned at the end.
Returnees’ IDs are expected to be provided 24 hours prior to each move. The release schedule includes the return of three hostages on the first day of the ceasefire and four more on the seventh day. Thereafter, three hostages will be returned each week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned in the last, sixth week of the first phase of the ceasefire.
The list is almost identical to one published by a Saudi news agency earlier this month after Hamas apparently leaked a document listing the names as negotiators moved closer to sealing the deal.
The list includes 12 women and children. They are Romi Gonen 23 years old, Emily Damari 27 years old, Arbel Yehud 29 years old, Doron Steinbrecher 31 years old, Ariel Bibas 5 years old, Kfir Bibas 2 years old, Shiri Silberman Bibas 33 years old, Liri Albag 19 years old, Karina Ariev 20 years old, Agam Berger 20 years old and Daniela Gilboa 20 years old.
It also includes 10 men over the age of 50: Ohad Ben-Ami 58, Gadi Moshe Moses 80, Keith Siegel 65, Ofer Calderon 54, Eli Sharabi 52, Itzik Elgara 70, Shlomo Mansour 86, Ohad Yahalomi 50 years old, Oded Lifshitz 50 years old and Tsahi Idan 50 years old.
Finally another 11 men under the age of 50: Hisham al-Sayed 36 years old, Yarden Bibas 35 years old, Sagui Dekel-Chen 36 years old, Yair Horn 46 years old, Omer Wenkert 23 years old, Sasha Trufanov 28 years old, Eliya Cohen 27 years old, Or Levy 34 years old, Avera Mengistu 38 years old and TalThom 29 years old.
The one person on the Saudi broadcast list who is not on the release list is Youssef Hamis Ziyadne, 54, who was confirmed last week to have been killed in captivity and whose body was recovered by the IDF.
In addition to the 33 on the list, 65 more people are being held by Hamas, many of whom are no longer alive. These are to be returned as part of a second phase of a deal, if it goes through, which would also lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Source: www.zougla.gr
