JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel's security Cabinet recommended approval Friday of a Gaza ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas and release dozens of hostages held by militants there.
Netanyahu’s office Friday evening said the meeting of the full Cabinet had begun. It was expected to approve the ceasefire, which could start as soon as Sunday. The ceasefire has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, but their objections could destabilize his government.
Mediators Qatar and the U.S. announced the ceasefire Wednesday, but the deal hung in limbo for more than a day as Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute complications he blamed on Hamas.
The militants maintained they were "committed" to the deal, while residents of Gaza and families of the hostages anxiously waited to see whether it would materialize.
Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 remain.
Israel responded with a devastating offensive that has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.
The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Fighting continued into Friday, and Gaza’s Health Ministry said 88 bodies had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
Netanyahu instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and said their families were informed a deal had been reached. The prime minister’s office said if the deal passes, the ceasefire could start Sunday and the first hostages could be freed then.
Under the deal, 33 of the hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what's left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase that will be negotiated during the first.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Israel’s justice ministry published a list Friday of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the deal’s first phase and said the release will not begin before 4 p.m. local time Sunday. All on the list are younger people or female.
Longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction.
An Egyptian official said an Israeli delegation from the military and Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a key link between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. An Israeli official confirmed a delegation was going to Cairo to discuss the crossing. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.
On Thursday, Israel’s hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approved the ceasefire. He reiterated that on Friday, writing on social media platform X: “If the ‘deal’ passes, we will leave the government with a heavy heart.”
Ben-Gvir’s resignation would not bring down the government or derail the deal, but the move would destabilize the government at a delicate moment and could eventually lead to its collapse if Ben-Gvir were joined by other key Netanyahu allies.
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Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt.
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