Israel security cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire agreement
Israel’s security cabinet has ratified a ceasefire deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and pause the 15-month war for an initial six weeks.
The approval came after an unexpected delay which sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and Hamas could scuttle the agreement. Far-right members of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government also threatened to derail months of work to end the conflict.
The deal will now go to the full cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners.
The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene.
Read more here from Lorenzo Tondo and Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem:
Key events
Russia hopes that the ceasefire in Gaza will lead to long-term stabilisation of the region, president Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian said he hoped the ceasefire would be implemented.
Putin said it was important not to weaken efforts towards a comprehensive settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Summary of the day so far
It is coming up to 5pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here is a summary of the key updates so far today:
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Israel’s security cabinet has ratified a ceasefire deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and pause the 15-month war for an initial six weeks. The deal will now go to the full cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners. The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene. Earlier, the government’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign from the government if the deal was approved.
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Earlier on Fiday Hamas issued a statement saying that obstacles that arose in relation to the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement had been resolved. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had accused Hamas on Thursday of reneging on key parts of the agreement to extort last-minute concessions. No evidence was provided for the allegation and Hamas denied it.
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Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is to last 42 days and take effect from Sunday, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women – including female soldiers – and those aged over 50. In exchange, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas, and 30 for other female hostages.
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French president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Friday that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages to be freed by Hamas after a ceasefire with Israel. Macon was visting Lebanon on Friday to meet the country’s newly elected leaders.
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Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, the US and Israel met in Cairo on Friday to set out “mechanisms” for implementing the truce in Gaza, state-linked media reported. Citing an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News said technical meetings started in Cairo on Friday “to put mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with the participation of Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli teams”, ahead of expected implementation of the deal on Sunday.
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While an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal has sparked hope for life-saving aid to reach Palestinians, aid agencies have warned of obstacles from destroyed infrastructure, massive need and collapsed law and order. The UN’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, called it “a moment of hope and opportunity” but said “we should be under no illusions how tough it will still be to get support to survivors”. On the ground in the territory, where nearly all 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once, aid workers worry nothing will be enough to meet the need.
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In what has been advertised as his final interview as president, Joe Biden has said that Israel “has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns” of Palestinians for the long term sustainability of Israel. He told broadcaster MSNBC: “And the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question … It’s not going to happen.”
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The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours. The ministry said that at least 46,876 people have been killed and 110,642 injured in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
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Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israel has pounded several areas of the territory after the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds. Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages due to be freed under the deal, and could turn their “freedom … into a tragedy”.
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On Friday, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, announced a decision to free West Bank settlers held under administrative detention orders, before the expected release of Palestinian security prisoners in a ceasefire deal signed with Hamas, reported the Times of Israel.
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UK lawmakers warned on Friday that an Israeli ban on the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency due to be implemented this month threatens to undermine efforts for peace in the Middle East. UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said on Thursday that legislation barring Unrwa from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem due to be implemented by the end of January threatened the ceasefire agreement.
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International criminal court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, has defended his decision to bring war crimes allegations against Israel’s prime minister, saying Israel had made “no real effort” to investigate the allegations itself. In an interview with Reuters, he stood by his decision over the arrest warrant despite a vote last week by the US House of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a move he described as “unwanted and unwelcome”.
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United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, on Friday urged an end to Israel’s “continued occupation” and “military operations” in south Lebanon, after a November ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah. “The continued occupation by the Israel [military] inside the Unifil area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 … They must stop,” he told members of the UN peacekeeping force as he visited them, referring to the UN security council decision that ended a 2006 war between both sides.
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British airline easyJet on Friday said it plans to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv from June after a ceasefire agreement was announced between Israel and Hamas. The carrier paused flights to and from its sole Israeli destination in April last year, citing safety concerns. German carrier Lufthansa on Thursday said it would resume flights to Tel Aviv from February.
The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours.
The ministry said that at least 46,876 people have been killed and 110,642 injured in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
UK lawmakers warned on Friday that an Israeli ban on the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency due to be implemented this month threatens to undermine efforts for peace in the Middle East.
A long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the 15-month war in Gaza is due to take effect this weekend.
UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said on Thursday that legislation barring Unrwa from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem due to be implemented by the end of January threatened the agreement. “What we don’t want is this peace, that begins on Sunday, undermined by that legislation just a few days into its passing,” he told parliament on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The chair of the UK parliament’s international development committee (IDC) echoed his call on Friday.
“While news of a ceasefire is encouraging, the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank remains alarming,” said Sarah Champion. She added:
Israel’s proposed ban on Unrwa would prevent aid distribution in Gaza, devastate Palestinian livelihoods and send disruptive ripples throughout the Middle East.”
Her comments came as the IDC published a report urging the UK government to “do all it can” to ensure Unrwa is able to continue its work. The report concluded that if Unrwa were banned it would almost certainly lead to further conflict and displacement.
Unrwa provides aid to six million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
But the agency has faced criticism from Israeli officials that has escalated since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel claims that a dozen Unrwa employees were involved in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack.
Israel’s ensuing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
A series of probes, including one led by France’s former foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality related issues” at Unrwa but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.
British airline easyJet on Friday said it plans to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv from June after a ceasefire agreement was announced between Israel and Hamas.
The carrier paused flights to and from its sole Israeli destination in April last year, citing safety concerns.
German carrier Lufthansa on Thursday said it would resume flights to Tel Aviv from February.
EasyJet will restart flights between Tel Aviv and London Luton airport, as well as between Israel and Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, Geneva, Milan and Nice, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We are really pleased that as of the beginning of June, we plan to resume flights between Tel Aviv and seven destinations across our network,” said Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK and Israel country manager.
Under the first phase of the deal, which is to last 42 days, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women – including female soldiers – and those aged over 50. In exchange, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas, and 30 for other female hostages.
According to a copy of the agreement seen by the Guardian, nine ill and wounded Israelis will be released in exchange for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli jails. Men over 50 on the list of 33 hostages will be released in return for prisoners serving life sentences at a ratio of 1:3, and 1:27 for other sentences.
The deal will also allow in the first phase Palestinians displaced from their homes to be allowed to move freely around the Gaza Strip, which Israel has cut into two halves with a military corridor. Wounded people are supposed to be evacuated for treatment abroad, and aid to the territory should increase to 600 trucks a day, above the 500 minimum that aid agencies say is needed to contain Gaza’s devastating humanitarian crisis.
In the second phase, the remaining living hostages would be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners would be freed, and Israel would completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase.
The third phase would address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza would be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy. The Biden administration and much of the international community have advocated for the semi-autonomous West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007, to return to the strip. Israel, however, has repeatedly rejected the suggestion.
Israel security cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire agreement
Israel’s security cabinet has ratified a ceasefire deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and pause the 15-month war for an initial six weeks.
The approval came after an unexpected delay which sparked fears that last-minute disagreements between Israel and Hamas could scuttle the agreement. Far-right members of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government also threatened to derail months of work to end the conflict.
The deal will now go to the full cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners.
The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene.
Read more here from Lorenzo Tondo and Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem:
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, the US and Israel met in Cairo on Friday to set out “mechanisms” for implementing the truce in Gaza, state-linked media reported.
Citing an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News said technical meetings started in Cairo on Friday “to put mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with the participation of Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli teams”, ahead of expected implementation of the deal on Sunday.
United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, on Friday urged an end to Israel’s “continued occupation” and “military operations” in south Lebanon, after a November ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The continued occupation by the Israel [military] inside the Unifil area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 … They must stop,” he told members of the UN peacekeeping force as he visited them, referring to the UN security council decision that ended a 2006 war between both sides.
Also on Friday, Guterres said peacekeepers had discovered more than “100 weapons caches” belonging to Hezbollah and its allies in south Lebanon since a ceasefire between the group and Israel.
UN peacekeepers “uncovered over 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since 27 November,” he said, adding that the “presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons” other than those of the Lebanese army and the Unifil peacekeeping force violated a UN security council decision that ended a 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Further on the report that two sources close to Hamas told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the first group of hostages to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers (see 11.26am GMT), here is some more detail via the news agency:
However, since Hamas considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service as a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians abducted during the 7 October 2023 attack.
The first three names on a list obtained by AFP of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on the day of the Hamas attack.
Israeli security cabinet meeting to discuss ceasefire deal
Here is an image from the Israeli security cabinet discussion today at the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Security Cabinet discussion has begun, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Before the meeting, an operational security assessment was held on the implementation of the agreement, chaired by Prime Minister Netanyahu, together with the negotiating team which has returned from Doha pic.twitter.com/3uPMwTSO3U
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 17, 2025
