After more than a day of delays, Israel’s security cabinet has approved an agreement to stop the fighting in Gaza, paving the way for hostages to be released beginning on Sunday.
Later on Friday, the full Israeli government will assemble to approve the deal, which negotiators reached earlier this week. Despite opposition from far-right factions in the coalition, the agreement is expected to pass.
“Following an evaluation of all diplomatic, security and humanitarian aspects, and while understanding that the proposed deal supports the achievement of the objectives of the war, the Security Cabinet has recommended that the Government approve the proposed framework,” read a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Israeli approval is coming one day later than expected. On Thursday, Netanyahu faced pressure from the far-right parties in his government to spike the deal. One of the parties, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has vowed to leave the government if the deal moves forward. If the other party, Religious Zionism, also leaves, Netanyahu will lose his parliamentary majority.
Netanyahu also blamed Hamas for reneging on parts of the deal, but the government later announced that all issues had been resolved. On Thursday, the Israeli military announced it had begun preparations to receive the freed hostages, signaling that the deal was moving forward.
The deal, which was agreed to earlier this week after months of halting talks followed by a marathon round of negotiations, will begin with an initial six-week stage in which the fighting will pause and the Israeli military will begin its withdrawal from Gaza. Over the course of that period, 33 hostages held by Hamas will be freed in groups that are released roughly once a week. In exchange, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners convicted on security offenses.
A second stage of the deal, which has yet to be fully negotiated, would see a further Israeli military withdrawal and permanent end to the fighting in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages. In a third phase, the military withdrawal will be complete and reconstruction of Gaza would begin, as the bodies of deceased hostages are returned to Israel. In each stage, hostages will be freed in exchange for a much larger number of Palestinian security prisoners.
“The Prime Minister has also directed the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing to coordinate the preparations to receive the hostages upon their return to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said. “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 has long said the two main objectives of the war are defeating Hamas and freeing the hostages. His statements on Friday did not mention Hamas.
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