Israeli Cabinet to Vote on Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet was expected to vote Thursday on a ceasefire deal with Hamas, while Palestinian medics said Israeli forces carried out multiple deadly airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

If the multiphase ceasefire gets final approval, it is set to go into effect Sunday, halting more than 15 months of war.

U.N. agencies said they were ready to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the United Nations says at least 1.9 million of the 2.3 million population have been displaced and 92% of housing units have been destroyed.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered his strong support for the ceasefire after the deal was announced Wednesday.

“As the President of the State of Israel, I say in the clearest terms: This is the right move,” he said. “This is an important move. This is a necessary move. There is no greater moral, human, Jewish, or Israeli obligation than to bring our sons and daughters back to us — whether to recover at home, or to be laid to rest.”

But one of the main opponents of the deal in the government, minister of finance Bezalel Smotrich, called it “a bad and dangerous deal for the national security of the State of Israel.”

The first phase of the agreement includes a 42-day ceasefire, the release of 33 hostages from Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, a phased Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and an increased flow of aid for Palestinian civilians.

During the first phase, there will be negotiations on the details of a second phase focused on bringing a permanent end to the conflict with the release of the remaining hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal.

A final phase concerns rebuilding Gaza, with a new governing and security structure.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas sent its fighters into Israel in a stunning Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that killed more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 people. Of those hostages, just under 100 are thought to remain in Hamas custody and a third are believed to be dead.

Gazan authorities say more than 46,700 Palestinians – most of them children and women – have been killed in Israeli military operations.

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which includes the families of 98 hostages, said Wednesday they welcomed “with overwhelming joy and relief the agreement to bring our loved ones home.”

“However, deep anxiety and concerns accompany us regarding the possibility that the agreement might not be fully implemented, leaving hostages behind,” the statement continued. “We urgently call for swift arrangements to ensure all phases of the deal are carried out.”

A senior Biden administration official told reporters that two of the living American hostages – Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen – will be among the first hostages released. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, as customary in such briefings.

“Fighting in Gaza will stop, and soon the hostages return home to their families,” U.S. President Joe Biden said as he announced the ceasefire deal Wednesday at the White House.

Biden urged his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, to implement the agreement, as Biden prepares to hand over power on Jan. 20.

Trump said, on his social media network, that he was “thrilled” and that his administration would build upon the success of this deal to expand U.S.-mediated Abraham Accords to normalize Arab-Israeli relations.

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Analysts say Trump’s fiery threats last week – of “all hell” breaking loose unless there was a deal before his inauguration – may have played a role.

“President-elect Trump has been very, very clear, he said he would unleash hell on Hamas if the hostages weren’t released,” said Mirette Mabrouk, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “I mean, really, there isn’t very much more hell that you could unleash on the current inhabitants of Gaza. They’re already in hell, but there’s also the feeling that he must have placed some pressure on [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu as well. And this is why we are now moving forward.”

What about the day after?

Some analysts looking to the proverbial “day after” expressed doubt the next administration can reach the big goal, which is the U.S.’s vocal longtime support of a two-state solution.

“I don’t see it under the Trump administration and that’s not squarely a criticism of the Trump administration or anyone else,” said Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “I think both the Israelis and Palestinians are so far off on making the sort of the hard agreements necessary to achieve a two-state solution – I don’t think there’s the political will on either the Israeli or Palestinian side.”

But as Biden and Qatar’s prime minister laid out in explaining the newly inked agreements, the deal is complex enough.

Biden on Wednesday also emphasized how arduous the negotiations have been, and he used that point to underscore his administration’s strong support for Israel, which has provoked tension between the U.S. and its closest allies.

“This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced,” the president said. “And it reached this point because of the pressure that Israel built on Hamas backed by the United States.”

Originally published in VOA News.