Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has agreed to implement the hostages-for-terrorists deal, paving the way for the first phase of a three-stage agreement.
On Friday afternoon, Israel’s security cabinet approved the outline of the hostage deal. “Israel’s security Cabinet recommended approval on Friday of a ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the war with Hamas in Gaza and release dozens of hostages,” the Associated Press reported.
The first phase also requires an Israeli military withdrawal from large parts of Gaza, allowing for a free movement of Gaza residents — and worryingly, Hamas terrorists — across the enclave.
In the first phase, which starts Sunday, Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages in six weeks. “This initial phase will see the release of 33 hostages over 42 days. The hostages include women, children, elderly individuals, and those with urgent medical needs.” the Jerusalem Post reported. Hamas still holds 94 hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 — 34 of them presumed dead.
Ahead of the cabinet vote, Israeli negotiators signed a deal despite Hamas’s last-minute demands. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been updated by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal for the release of the hostages,” prime minister’s office said in a statement on Friday morning.
“The State of Israel is committed to achieving all of the objectives of the war including the return of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu office added.
The Israeli news website YNET reported the details of the deal:
As part of the agreement, a six-week cease-fire will come into effect, during which the IDF will gradually withdraw from the central Gaza Strip, and displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to the north. During this period, Israel will release 30 terrorists in exchange for each kidnapped civilian, and 50 terrorists for each female soldier released.
First, the women and children will be released, followed by men over the age of 50. The release of those kidnapped by Hamas will be spread out over 42 days, six weeks, with at least three hostages being released each week.
As part of the agreement, by the end of the first phase, Israel will release from prison all female terrorists held since October 7, 2023, as well as male terrorists under the age of 19 who were arrested since the outbreak of the war. In total, between 990 and 1,650 terrorists are expected to be released, with the final number depending on the number of live hostages who return as part of the deal.
Describing the following phases of the deal, the YNET added:
Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement, guaranteed by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, will begin by the 16th day of the first phase. The second phase is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including soldiers, and to ensure a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a full IDF withdrawal from it. The third phase is expected to include the return of all remaining hostages and the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
Several murderous terrorists serving life sentence are to be released as part of the deal. The Israeli news website Arutz Sheva disclosed that “some of the terrorists with blood on their hands who will be released as part of the hostage deal will be sent to Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem, contrary to the promises that were made earlier to the ministers.”
“The decision is expected to cause widespread public criticism and additional arguments within the government,” the news outlet added.
The hostages-for-terrorists deal was welcomed by Hamas and its followers across Gaza. Palestinian terrorists im full military gear lined up the streets, cheered on by crowds chanting “Allahu Akbar.”
The deal with Hamas was met with sharp criticism from within Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, with key cabinet members voting against the deal. “Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voted against the deal. Likud MK Dudi Amsalem also expressed his opposition,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Ahead of Friday’s cabinet meeting, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to take his Otzma Yehudit party out of the governing coalition of the deal was endorsed.
Ben-Gvir vowed not to topple the Netanyahu-led government and support it from the outside during the deal’s first phase. He promised to return to the government if the Israeli military resumed its operation against Hamas terrorists after the hostages were freed.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who currently holds 64-seats in the 120-member parliament, needs the Otzma Yehudit party’s 14 Knesset members for a majority in the house of representatives.
The Times of Israel reported Gvir’s remarks:
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reiterates his Otzma Yehudit party will leave the coalition if the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas that was signed in Doha last night is approved, as is expected to happen today or tomorrow.
Lauding his own work strengthening the Israel Police, Prisons Service and Border Police as national security minister, he says he will leave the government “with a heavy heart.”
“I love Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will make sure he continues to be prime minister, but I will leave because the deal that was signed is disastrous; it releases hundreds of terrorists with blood on their hands, who, upon their release, will seek to murder the next Jew; it allows the return of thousands of terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip with weapons — when their goal is to murder Jews; it harms Israel’s ability to defend itself on the Philadelphia axis and at other important points; and it undoes all the war successes that cost us so much blood,” he says in a lengthy statement.
The far-right minister also reiterates that if the IDF resumes fighting Hamas after a pause to free hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023, his party will offer to return to the government.
“We will not overthrow this government and we will support it from the outside, but we will not be partners in a defeatist agreement,” he says.
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