Israeli authorities on Friday confirmed it has reached a ceasefire deal with Hamas and that a process has been put on motion to ratify the deal.
The development came after the representatives of Israel, Hamas, the United States, and Qatar officially signed the deal in Doha.
While confirming the development, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a deal to release the hostages has been agreed.
The prime minister who had delayed a cabinet vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday said on Friday morning that he had been informed by the negotiating team that agreements on the deal had been reached.
He said the security cabinet would meet later on Friday to ratify the agreement before approval from the full government is sought.
Daily Intel reported that a ceasefire deal had been reached, just as Hamas said it was committed to the deal.
Recall that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said on Wednesday that the agreement would come into effect on Sunday, pending Israeli cabinet approval.
Although Israeli negotiators have agreed to the deal, which follows months of talks, it cannot be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and government.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said he expects the ceasefire to start on Sunday as planned with the release of the first three Israeli hostages.
The first six-week phase of the deal would see 33 hostages – including women, children and elderly people – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli troops would also withdraw to the east, away from densely populated areas of Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians would be able to start returning to their homes and hundreds of aid lorries would be allowed entry to the territory each day.
Negotiations for the second phase should see the remaining hostages released with the Israeli troop fully withdrawn and a return to sustainable calm would start on the 16th day.
The third and final stage would involve the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies and the reconstruction of Gaza – something which could take years.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since then, more than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza, with 2.3 million people displaced.
