ISRAEL has announced the much anticipated ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas will finally be signed.
It comes after after Israel accused Hamas terrorists of “last-minute blackmail “on Thursday sparking fears the deal would collapse.
The Israeli cabinet is set to meet this morning to give final approval to the deal, the PM’s Netanyahu’s office said.
But in the early hours today, Netanyahu’s office said approval was imminent.
The negotiating team informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that agreements had been reached on a deal to release the hostages, his office reported.
The security cabinet would meet on Friday before a full meeting of the cabinet on Saturday to approve the deal.
This pushes back the release of the first batch of hostages to Monday.
Following the announcement of a truce, Israeli warplanes continued to launch intense strikes in Gaza, resulting in at least 86 casualties as confirmed by Palestinian authorities on Thursday.
According to White House spokesperson John Kirby, Washington expressed confidence that the agreement was progressing as planned, with a ceasefire anticipated to take effect “as soon as late this weekend” in the prolonged 15-month conflict.
“We are seeing nothing that would tell us that this is going to get derailed at this point,” he said on CNN on Thursday.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that a “loose end” in the negotiations needed to be resolved.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this was a dispute over the identities of some prisoners Hamas wanted released.
A group representing families of Israeli hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom are due to be freed in the first six-week phase of the accord, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward quickly.
“For the 98 hostages, each night is another night of terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night,” the group said in a statement late on Thursday carried by Israeli media.
List of hostages Hamas says will release
WOMEN AND CHILDREN:
- Romi Gonen, 23
- Emily Damari, 27
- Arbel Yehud, 29
- Doron Steinbrecher, 31
- Ariel Bibas, 5
- Kfir Bibas, 1
- Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33
- Liri Albag, 19
- Karina Ariev, 20
- Agam Berger, 21
- Danielle Gilboa, 20
- Naama Levy, 20
REST OF THE MEN:
- Ohad Ben-Ami, 58
- Gadi Moshe Moses, 80
- Keith Siegel, 65
- Ofer Calderon, 54
- Eli Sharabi, 52
- Itzik Elgarat, 70
- Shlomo Mansour, 86
- Ohad Yahalomi, 50
- Youssef Hamis Ziyadne, 54
- Oded Lifshitz, 84
- Tsahi Idan, 50
Source: Times of Israel
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