Israeli government to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal on Friday: reports

The Israeli cabinet will meet Friday morning to vote on the ceasefire and prisoner-exchange deal, according to reports in Israeli and US media.

The remaining disputes have been resolved and a final agreement is now in place, paving the way for a cabinet vote, US outlet Axios and Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported this afternoon, citing Israeli officials.

The cabinet was initially expected to vote on the truce on Thursday before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the meeting, accusing Hamas of backtracking on some elements of the deal.

Unconfirmed reports have claimed that Hamas has sought to add new names to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.

Israel’s negotiating team under Mossad chief David Barnea were reportedly still in Doha today finalising details of the agreement with mediators.

Following Netanyahu’s statement, Hamas said that it is committed to respecting the ceasefire and accused the Israeli prime minister of trying to sabotage the deal.

Netanyahu has faced internal pressure from the far-right parties in his coalition as negotiations intensified in recent days. Jewish Power leader and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has been trying to persuade the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to quit the government and trigger fresh elections if the government approves the ceasefire.

Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party indicated today that it would resign if fighting does not resume after the end of the 42-day ceasefire.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said Thursday it was “ready to host an international conference” on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a day after mediators announced a deal for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

In a statement, Cairo called for the rapid, safe and effective distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as “early recovery projects in preparation for the reconstruction” of the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by 15 months of war.

Hamas is making a last-minute push to secure the release of a few more Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement announced yesterday, the BBC reported this morning, citing a Hamas source.

Following the deal’s official announcement yesterday, it was thought that both sides had agreed on the final list of prisoners that would be exchanged during the first phase of the ceasefire, which will come into force on Sunday.

But according to the broadcaster’s Gaza correspondent, Rushdi Abualouf, the Palestinian group is now trying to add the names of two former Hamas military commanders to the list.

Hamas said this morning it was committed to respecting the ceasefire agreement after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused it of backtracking on some of its terms.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu was attempting to sabotage the accord and called on the Biden and Trump teams to pressure him to abide by its terms.

Under the agreement, Hamas will release 33 of the 94 captives remaining in Gaza while Israel will free hundreds of prisoners arrested since 7 October 2023.

The Israeli Air Force has bombed 50 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours, a military spokesperson said Thursday afternoon.

The US is confident that the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel will hold despite accusations from Israel that the Palestinian group is reneging on parts of the deal, White House spokesperson John Kirby said today.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today cancelled a planned cabinet vote on the ceasefire and claimed that Hamas was seeking to make last-minute changes to the agreement.

“We’re going to get there. We’re aware of these issues that the prime minister has raised and we’re working through that,” Kirby told NBC.

“”We’re confident we’ll be able to solve these last-minute issues and get it moving.”

The Qatari prime minister demanded Israel “immediately withdraw” from its buffer zone with Syria during a visit to Damascus on Thursday after Israeli troops had entered the area following Bashar al-Assad’s fall.

“The Israeli occupation’s seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless… act and it must immediately withdraw,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said at a press conference with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Israeli human rights monitor B’Tselem has welcomed yesterday’s ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel but warned of the risks of renewed conflict when the six-week truce comes to an end.

“A ceasefire is only the first step, and one that should have happened long ago. There is a real concern that Israel will resume fighting after the first phase of the deal is complete,” it said in a statement today.

“The international community must do everything in its power to demand Israel stop the war completely and permanently.”

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday his country is ready to welcome UN forces into the UN established buffer zone with Israel.

“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” he said, answering a Reuters question.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday arrived at Damascus’ International Airport, footage run by Al Jazeera Live showed.

Earlier, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X the country’s PM would hold extensive talks with Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Syrian capital.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, alongside the release of captives, which is scheduled to commence on Sunday.

“NATO welcomes the ceasefire; hostage release agreement in Gaza. We commend Egypt, Qatar; USA for their efforts in brokering this deal that brings hope to the region,” NATO official Javier Colomina posted on X.

He added, “Full implementation of the agreement will be crucial as a first step to greater stability in the Middle East.”

China and Russia welcomed the ceasefire agreement on Thursday, expressing hope that it would lead to a permanent end to the 15-month conflict.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it hoped the truce would lead to “long-term stabilisation” and pave the way to a “comprehensive political settlement” between Palestinians and Israelis.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing hopes that “all parties will take the Gaza ceasefire as an opportunity to ease regional tensions” and pledged to help in the post-war reconstruction effort in Gaza.

The Gaza death toll has reached 46,788, according to figures published by the Gaza Health Ministry this morning.

The number of people wounded in Israel’s 15-month onslaught rose to 110,453.

Israel is still negotiating details of the prisoner-exchange deal in Doha, hours after Qatar, the US and Hamas announced that the two sides had reached an agreement.

The negotiating team, led by Mossad chief David Barnea, continued discussions with mediators in the Qatari capital today to finalise the agreement, according to The Times of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning accused Hamas of reneging on some aspects of the agreement and shelved a cabinet vote to approve the ceasefire.

The EU will provide 120 million euros in humanitarian aid to Gaza, an EU spokesperson said Thursday.

The funds will be allocated to providing food and water, medical care, sanitation, and shelter to the thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israel’s 15-month bombardment of the strip.

The far-right Israeli party led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has rejected any ceasefire agreement that brings a permanent end to the war and demanded the government resume its attacks on Gaza after the end of the six-week truce announced yesterday.

Following an internal meeting this morning, the Religious Zionist Party said it would resign from the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to extend the ceasefire beyond the first, 42-day phase – a step that would bring down the ruling coalition and trigger fresh elections.

“As far as we are concerned, the next stages of the deal will not happen,” Israeli public broadcaster Kan quoted Religious Zionist MK Zvi Sukkot as saying.

Hamas and Israel are expected to begin negotiating a permanent end to the war after the initial truce comes into effect on Sunday.

Extremist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called on Smotrich to join his Jewish Power party in resigning from the government should the ceasefire go into effect.

A senior Israeli official has denied that the government agreed to start drawing down Israeli troops from the Gaza-Egypt border  – known as the Philadelphi Corridor – under the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.

A version of the agreement leaked on Wednesday said that Israel “will gradually reduce the forces in the corridor area during stage 1” before fully withdrawing between days 42 and 50 of the truce.

However, the Israeli official said on Thursday that the number of soldiers deployed at the border will stay the same for the duration of the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire but will be “distributed in a different manner”.

The international community needs to put pressure on Israel to stick to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese presidency has said.

“Serious commitment by Israel needs to be followed up, as it has accustomed us to evading its obligations and disavowing international resolutions,” it wrote in a post on X.

Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded in an incident at an Israeli training base on Wednesday.

The incident occurred when a weapon exploded on an army base in south Israel, according the military’s spokesperson.

A senior Hamas official has rejected accusations made by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinian group is reneging on the terms of the ceasefire agreed on Wednesday.

The Israeli leader this morning postponed a planned cabinet vote on the ceasefire, saying that Hamas was trying to backtrack on the deal.

Appearing on Al Araby TV, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri rejected Netanyahu’s claims and accused him of attempting to provoke a crisis.

“The occupation wants to create a state of tension at a critical time, and we demand it be obliged to implement the agreement,” he said, calling on the Biden administration and incoming Trump team to pressure Israel.

He also said Israel’s escalating bombardment of Gaza is an attempt to sabotage the deal.

Israeli attacks have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds in the hours since the ceasefire was announced in Doha.

An Israeli attack on a school in northern Gaza has killed at least two children and injured 20 people, according to local reports.

The strike targeted a school housing displaced people in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reported.

Israel has killed at least 73 people and wounded hundreds in Gaza after pounding several areas of the Palestinian territory since the announcement of a ceasefire deal, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Thursday.

“Since the ceasefire agreement was announced, Israeli occupation forces have killed 73 people, including 20 children and 25 women,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that another 230 people were wounded in the “bombardments that are continuing”, a day after the truce announcement.

Iran on Thursday welcomed a ceasefire and prisoner-exchange deal between Hamas and Israel as a “victory” for Palestinians and a “defeat” for Israel.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed Palestinian “resistance” after the truce announcement to halt more than 15 months of fighting, saying “the patience of the people of Gaza and the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance forced the Zionist regime to retreat.”

Iran’s foreign ministry called for the “full implementation of the agreed arrangements including the complete cessation of genocide and killings in Gaza, the complete withdrawal of the occupiers, the immediate and extended aid delivery to the Gaza Strip.”

The bodies of 48 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza were brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press.

Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday, senior group official Izzat el-Reshiq said on Thursday.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday accused the Palestinian group of reneging on parts of the truce, and postponed a planned cabinet meeting to approve the agreement.

The incoming Trump administration will support renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza if the ceasefire breaks down, incoming White House national security advisor Mike Waltz has said.

“We’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this – if they need to go back in, we’re with them,” he said in a Fox News interview Wednesday.

“If Hamas doesn’t live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the ceasefire agreement and said that the cabinet will not hold a vote to approve it until all points have been agreed upon.

Israeli ministers had been expected to vote on whether to approve the ceasefire at 13:00 GMT.

“Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions,” a statement from the prime minister’s office claimed.

“The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”

Netanyahu yesterday said he would not follow Hamas, Qatari and US leaders in making a public statement on the ceasefire until a final agreement has been reached.

Hamas and Israel have agreed to stop fighting for an initial six-week period during which negotiations for a permanent end to the war will take place.

Israel killed dozens of Palestinians in fresh attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, hours after reaching a ceasefire pact with Hamas due to come into force on Sunday.

At least 25 people were killed in shelling in northern and central Gaza, according to local reports.

The intense bombardment came after Hamas and Israel agreed to a six-week ceasefire during which hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners will be released and Israeli troops will partially withdraw from Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians since launching its offensive on Gaza on 7 October 2023.