Israel’s government has ratified a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.
The vote early on Friday paves the way for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours, and the release of 48 Israeli captives held in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive, within 72 hours after that.
“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu’s office said in a brief post on social media.
The vote came a day after mediators announced an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The agreement – covering the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war – also requires Israel to pull back its troops to “an agreed-upon line”, according to Trump.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian earlier said that Israel does not plan to release the imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti as part of the exchange, and claimed Israel would still control more than half of Gaza after moving its forces back as required under the deal.
Trump said in remarks earlier on Thursday that the Israeli captives will be released from Gaza on “Monday or Tuesday”, and that he hopes to attend a ceasefire signing ceremony in Egypt.
While the full details of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, approved by Israel and Hamas, remain unclear, Trump has said his plan will bring “everlasting peace” and wide-scale reconstruction in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel’s two-year war.
“You have tremendous wealth in that part of the world by certain countries, and just a small part of that, what they make, will do wonders for Gaza,” Trump said, without giving details of a specific reconstruction plan.
“I think you’re going to see some tremendous countries stepping up and putting up a lot of money and taking care of things,” he said.
In his remarks, Trump did say that disarmament would be part of the second phase of the deal, with Israel insisting that Hamas must give up its weapons.
“I’m not going to talk about that because you sort of know what phase two is. But … there will be disarming,” Trump told reporters, adding that there would also be “pullbacks” by Israeli forces.
‘Serious disagreements’
As Trump hailed the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces continued to attack areas of Gaza. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 49 others were wounded in Israeli attacks, the enclave’s Health Ministry said on Thursday.
Later, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said four people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City. That brings the day’s death toll in Gaza to 29, according to Wafa, despite the ceasefire breakthroughs.
The attack targeted a home belonging to the Ghabboun family, Gaza’s civil defence said, adding that at least “40 people are missing under the rubble”.
Asem Alnabih, a spokesman for the Gaza City municipality, said “the reality on the ground has not changed” despite the agreement on the first phase of the ceasefire.
“Therefore, congratulations and celebrations may not be the best course of action right now, especially since blood is still being shed in Gaza,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from central Gaza’s az-Zawayda, said there has been “lots of aerial activity across the Gaza Strip”.
“It’s giving people a sense that nothing is finalised yet,” he said, stressing that the humanitarian situation continues to be dire as aid is still being denied entry into the famine-struck enclave.
In a statement late on Thursday, Hamas condemned Israel’s “massacre” in Sabra, urging mediators and the US to “take responsibility for Israel’s crimes and intervene to stop the bombing of civilians”.
The group said Israel’s “systematic massacres” showed its intent to “continue the genocide until the very last moment,” and aimed to “undermine mediation efforts and block the agreement’s implementation”.
Speaking during a fourth day of intensive talks, Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said he has received guarantees from the US and mediators that the first phase of the deal will lead to a lasting, permanent end to the war.
“We have received assurances from the brotherly mediators and the US administration, who have confirmed that the war is completely over,” he said.
According to him, 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons will be released as part of the deal, alongside 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza, and all Palestinian women and children detained by Israel.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara noted that while the “initial phase of the initial phase” of the deal appears to be moving forward, “serious disagreements” remain between Israel and Hamas. These include details on the timing and scope of Israel’s withdrawal, the makeup of the post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas, he said.
A second phase of the deal, still to be negotiated, is expected to involve a full Israeli withdrawal, Hamas’s disarmament, and the establishment of new security and governance arrangements in Gaza.
‘Families in Gaza cheering’
Meanwhile, news of the ceasefire agreement has been welcomed across the world, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying the agency is ready to “scale up” aid delivery and “advance recovery and reconstruction efforts”.
For Gaza, it offers a respite from two years of Israeli attacks and blockades that have killed more than 67,000 people and led to widespread famine, in what prominent scholars and a UN inquiry say amounts to a genocide.
“Families were cheering once they heard the news of the ceasefire after more than two years of devastation, destruction, displacement and broken promises,” said Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Gaza. “People are desperately waiting to be reunited with loved ones and even to have a moment to mourn what they have lost.”
But some analysts cautioned that the agreement is not a lasting peace guarantee.
“This is only an agreement on phase one. This is an exchange of captives, this is stopping the large-scale killing that has been going on in Gaza and allowing some more humanitarian aid in,” Middle East political analyst Omar Baddar told Al Jazeera. “But there’s no telling whether there’s going to be a resumption of this genocide … and is Israel really going to allow Gaza to be rebuilt? I think that’s a really big question.”