Israel’s cabinet has recommended approving a deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants.

Le Monde with AP and AFP

The Israeli security cabinet approved a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal on Friday, January 17, recommending that the wider government give its final green light, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “After reviewing all the political, security and humanitarian aspects, and understanding that the proposed deal supports achieving the objectives of the war, (the security cabinet) has recommended that the government approve the proposed framework,” the office said in a statement. The full cabinet will convene later Friday to decide on the deal.

The release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel is expected to begin on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier on Friday.

During the initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, 33 hostages are to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, according to mediators, as well as officials from both sides.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages to be freed. “We remain mobilized without pause to ensure their return to their families,” he wrote in a post on social media.

Opposition

At least two members of Israel’s security cabinet have voiced opposition to the ceasefire, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying that he and his party colleagues would quit the government – but not the ruling coalition – if it approved the “irresponsible” deal. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also opposes the truce, calling it a “dangerous deal.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been involved in months of mediation efforts, said Thursday he believed the ceasefire would go ahead on schedule. “I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” he said.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israel pounded several areas of the territory after the deal was announced on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds since then. 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.”

The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States, after months of fruitless negotiations to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history. If finalized, it would pause hostilities one day before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who claimed credit for the agreement. “If we weren’t involved in this deal, the deal would’ve never happened,” Trump said in an interview Thursday. Envoys from both the Trump team and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden were present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.

Humanitarian aid

Biden said the second phase of the agreement could bring a “permanent end to the war.” He added the deal would “surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families.”Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also underscored the “importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza.

Cairo said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.

The EU is prepared to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after the ceasefire deal, the bloc’s top diplomat said Friday: “We are ready to do it,” foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists after meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Brussels. Kallas said the EU needed an invitation from the Palestinian and Israeli sides and agreement from Egypt before it could “go forward.”

The 27-nation bloc set up a civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the crossing, but it was suspended two years later after militant Islamists Hamas took control of Gaza. Kallas called the truce deal a “positive breakthrough,” but warned that the road ahead was fraught with potential peril. “It is still too soon to say whether the war is truly over and we know that there is risk in every step here,” she said.

The EU on Thursday announced $123 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza after the ceasefire deal was struck. “The European Union will continue to work closely with our partners to deliver humanitarian support,” Kallas said.

The Rafah crossing is a crucial entry into Gaza and Egyptian officials have said talks are underway to reopen it to surge aid into the territory. The EU monitoring mission would include up to 10 European staff, officials said. Kallas said that in the longer term, the EU was working on a new “multi-year support program for the Palestinian Authority” and was “ready to assist” in rebuilding Gaza.

Source: lemonde.fr