Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu said he would convene his security Cabinet later Friday and then the government will approve the long-awaited hostage deal.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval of the deal, which would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and see dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The deal would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their homes in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in the war-ravaged territory on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and that their families had been informed the deal had been reached.<\/p>\n
Israel had delayed a vote Thursday on the ceasefire, blaming a last-minute dispute with Hamas for holding up approval as rising tensions in Netanyahu\u2019s government coalition raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after U.S. President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s office had accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions. In a briefing Thursday, David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesman, said Hamas\u2019 new demands dealt with the deployment of Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor, the narrow strip bordering Egypt that Israeli troops seized in May.<\/p>\n
Hamas denied the claims, with Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, saying the militant group \u201cis committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ceasefire agreement has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu\u2019s far-right coalition partners, which the Israeli prime minister depends on to remain in power. On Thursday, Israel\u2019s hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approved the ceasefire. There was no immediate comment from Ben-Gvir following Netanyahu\u2019s statement the hostage deal had been reached.<\/p>\n
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan \u201cwithout any delay\u201d in an exclusive interview Thursday with The Associated Press. Egypt has been a key mediator between the enemies for years and a leading player in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.<\/p>\n
The deal announced Wednesday would pause the fighting with a view to eventually wind down a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.<\/p>\n
Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The military campaign has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, and pushed about 90% of Gaza\u2019s population of 2.3 million from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are struggling with hunger and disease in squalid tent camps on the coast.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu faces heavy internal pressure<\/p>\n
The Israeli prime minister has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the hostages, whose families have pleaded with Netanyahu to prioritize the release of their loved ones over politics.<\/p>\n
But Israeli divisions over the deal were on stark display Thursday, as Ben-Gvir, a keycoalition partner, threatened to resign, saying the ceasefire was \u201creckless\u201d and would \u201cdestroy all of Israel\u2019s achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n
The departure of Ben-Gvir\u2019s Jewish Power party would reduce the number of the ruling coalition\u2019s seats in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, from 68 to 62 \u2014 leaving Netanyahu\u2019s government with just the slimmest of majorities. Ben-Gvir said his party would return to the coalition if Israel resumes its war.<\/p>\n
Ben-Gvir\u2019s resignation would not bring down the government or derail the ceasefire deal. But the move would destabilize the government at a delicate moment and could lead to its collapse if Ben-Gvir is joined by other key Netanyahu allies.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for instance, is vehemently opposed to the agreement and has demanded that Netanyahu promise to resume the war against Hamas after the first phase of the ceasefire as a condition of his party staying in the coalition.<\/p>\n
A night of heavy Israeli strikes<\/p>\n
Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli bombardment Thursday as people were celebrating the ceasefire deal. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were expecting that the (Israeli) occupation would intensify the bombing, like they did every time there were reports of progress in truce talks,\u201d said Mohammed Mahdi, who is sheltering in Gaza City.<\/p>\n
Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry said Israeli strikeskilled at least 72 people since the ceasefire deal was announced. It said the toll from Thursday\u2019s strikes only includes bodies brought to two hospitals in Gaza City and the actual toll is likely higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday was a bloody day, and today is bloodier,\u201d said Zaher al-Wahedi, a Health Ministry official.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said it had struck approximately 50 militant targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launch sites.<\/p>\n
Anxiety spread across Gaza on Thursday with the news of last-minute quarreling between Hamas and Israeli officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask our brothers in Hamas to communicate with mediators to end the war,\u201d said Omar Jendiya, in Deir al-Balah. \u201cEnough with the destruction and killing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A phased withdrawal and hostage release with potential pitfalls
\nUnder the deal reached Wednesday, 33 of some 100 hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over the next 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\u2019s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second \u2014 and much more difficult \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Ceasefire leaves questions about Gaza\u2019s future unanswered<\/p>\n
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s Mideast envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump\u2019s team took credit for the breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction.<\/p>\n
Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. It also blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.<\/p>\n
Hamas has come under overwhelming pressure from Israel\u2019s invasion of Gaza\u2019s largest cities and towns and seizure of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the 2023 attack, have been killed.<\/p>\n
But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.<\/p>\n
Source: AP
\n–Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu said he would convene his security Cabinet later Friday and then the government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n