Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it has been finalized an agreement with Hamas to stop the war in Gaza, suggesting it would begin on Sunday.
Netanyahu, in a statement issued Friday morning, said he had ordered his security cabinet to meet to approve the truce, which has been endorsed by US President Joe Biden and incoming leader Donald Trump.
The deal appeared at risk of collapsing on Thursday when Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on some agreements. He said his cabinet would not meet until the group, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, will accept all elements of the agreement.
The deal was announced Wednesday night by Biden, Trump and Qatar, the key mediator. Under the terms, Hamas will release 33 of the nearly 98 hostages still held in Gaza in the first phase of the six-week ceasefire. Israel will withdraw its troops from populated areas of the Palestinian territory and release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Biden made it clear that he wants the truce to definitively end hostilities, which he said would It will bring calm to the entire Middle East and help expand Israel’s diplomatic ties with the US, including Saudi Arabia.
However, within Israel there is great caution and many politicians who say the war must continue until Hamas is completely destroyed.
Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have threatened to leave the ruling coalition if a ceasefire is approved. It is not clear whether Netanyahu has persuaded Smotrich to abandon his demand that the war be resumed when the 42-day truce ends.
Netanyahu, in his statement on Friday, did not mention it. Israel, he said, is “committed to achieving all the objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages, the living and the dead.”
Once the ceasefire begins, Israel and Hamas will begin talks on the release of the rest of the hostages and on the reconstruction and future governance of Gaza. Although Israel does not want Hamas to play play no role in the latter, it is unclear whether any other Palestinian entity is capable or willing to take over.
The truce will begin a day before Trump enters the White House. His and Biden’s teams have worked closely to secure a ceasefire by then, something both Trump and Biden said was a key goal.. That combined pressure is seen as crucial to getting Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement after months of stalled talks.
