Israel’s security cabinet approved a cease-fire agreement today, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza the day after tomorrow, as well as an end to the 15-month conflict that has devastated the Palestinian coastal enclave.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas is still awaiting approval by the full cabinet. The war between Israeli forces and the Palestinian Authority has devastated most of Gaza, killing more than 46,000 people and displacing most of the enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million people several times, according to local authorities.
If successful, the truce could reduce the intensity of the conflict in the Middle East, where the war from Gaza has spread to Iran, that is, its mediators, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, and armed groups in Iraq, as well as in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli planes continued their attacks in Gaza today, and the Palestinian civil emergency service announced that 116 Palestinians, almost 60 of them women and children, had been killed since the agreement was announced the day before yesterday. As part of the first, six-week, three-phase deal, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, soldiers and civilians, children and men over 50. Israel will release all Palestinian women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons by the end of the first phase.
The total number of Palestinians freed will depend on the release of hostages, and could be between 990 and 1,650 Palestinians, including men, women and children. The Israeli Ministry of Justice today published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who will be released the day after tomorrow, in the first exchange. Hamas said in a statement that the difficulties that arose over the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement had been resolved.
The deal was strongly opposed by hardliners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, who said it represented Israel’s capitulation to Hamas. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to resign if the agreement is approved. However, he said he would not overthrow the government.
After the security cabinet meeting, Ben-Gvir reiterated his opposition to the ceasefire agreement in a statement and called on the entire cabinet to join him in voting against it. Israel claims there are still 98 hostages in Gaza, and around half are believed to be still alive. For the first time, the Israeli authorities officially informed the families of the hostages about the names of the first 33 who will be released, but it is not known how many are still alive on that list.
(Vijesti.ba/HINA)
