Gaza ceasefire: Israeli Security Cabinet approves deal

DW correspondent Konstantin Eggert, who was reporting from Jerusalem, said that support for the deal that is currently being discussed by Israel's Cabinet is "fairly strong."

The numbers to back it up, Eggert said, came from polls conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute — 58% of Israelis said they approve the deal as is, and 12% said they would like an option to opt out of the deal that could see Israel continue with its military campaign against Hamas.

But taken together, 70% of people favor the deal and Eggert said "it's not a surprise" since pictures of people taken hostage by Hamas, and whose release would be part of the deal, are all over the country.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog applauded the Security Cabinet's decision to approve the hostage and ceasefire deal, saying there was "no greater moral, human, Jewish, and Israeli duty. We must bring all of our hostages back home."

Herzog said he expected the 33-member wider Israeli Cabinet, that is currently meeting to discuss the agreement, to approve it too.

Herzog also pointed to the challenges, writing that "I harbor no illusions — the deal will bring with it great challenges and painful, agonizing moments that we will need to overcome and face together."

"With all my heart, I embrace the families of the hostages, especially those who know that their loved ones will not return in the first stage. We must bring everyone back. Everyone! We will not rest or relent until this happens," he wrote.

Israel's prison service said that measures were being taken to prevent "public displays of joy" when Palestinian prisoners were released as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which has yet to be approved by the Israeli government.

The AFP news agency reported that preparations were underway for the release of Palestinian prisoners in return for Israeli hostages, citing a prison service statement.

The prison service said that two jails, one near Jerusalem and another near the southern city of Ashkelon, had started preparing the releases by gathering prisoners to be freed.

"The commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, Major General Kobi Yakobi, instructed that... to prevent public displays of joy in Ashkelon and other areas of Israel, the escort from 'Shikma' Prison will not be handled by civilian buses of the [International Committee of the] Red Cross," the statement said.

"Special units" from the prison service would instead deal with transport.

Jakobi said that prisoners identified for release were also told to "refrain from expressions of joy within Israel."

Israel's offensive in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, terror attacks has killed more than 46,876 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry. 

There were at least 88 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 110,642 people have been wounded since the latest conflict began.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but the UN and multiple humanitarian organizations consider the casualty numbers broadly reliable.

Around half of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants are children and the UN says the majority of civilians killed have been women and children. 

Israel launched its Gaza operation after the 2023 Hamas attacks in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people. 

The Israeli Security Cabinet has recommended the approval of the ceasefire and hostage return agreement with Hamas.

This comes ahead of a full cabinet meeting expected to take place at 3.30 p.m. local time (13:30 GMT) Friday.

Once the Cabinet has ratified the deal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it would then take effect on Sunday.

The German government has called on Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to adhere fully to a ceasefire agreement  in the Gaza Strip.

"We call on all parties ... to take all steps to ensure that this agreement can now be implemented," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

"It is important that the first steps are taken successfully and that all those who bear responsibility then remain on this path," she added.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the deal on Thursday as a "major breakthrough" but cautioned that many challenges still lay ahead.  

A UNICEF  (The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) spokeswoman has told DW that although news of the ceasefire deal was hailed with joy in Gaza, there is still little feeling in the Palestinian enclave that a truce will soon be in place.

"Here in southern Gaza and Al-Mawasi, it doesn't really feel or sound like a ceasefire yet," said Rosalia Bollen. "This morning I woke up to the very strong buzz of drones flying over, so that continues unabated." 

Bollen said that two nights ago news of the deal "was received with tremendous joy, just an outpouring of joy and jubilation."

"People are longing for an end to this war. To go back to their homes to see what's left of it. Children I speak to tell me that they long to sleep in their beds. They want their bedrooms, they want to see what's left of it. So everyone is very desperate and hopeful," Bollen said.

However, she pointed out that attacks were continuing to claim lives and that at least 20 children had been among those recently killed.

Bollen also highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave.

"Children, they're cold. They walk around in summer clothes, they don't have proper clothes. Their shelters aren't protecting them from the cold and the rain. They live in makeshift tents. They haven't had a proper meal for well over a year. Families live off canned food and flour. Health care has been decimated. Children have been out of school for one year and a half. So the needs are immense."

Several of the hostages taken by Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas during the deadly raid in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, are expected to be freed on Sunday if a deal reached between Israel and Hamas is approved by the Israeli government, the Israeli prime minister's office has said.

"Pending approval by the Security Cabinet and the government, and the agreement taking effect, the release of the hostages will be implemented according to the planned framework in which the hostages are expected to be released on Sunday," it said in a statement.

The first phase of the deal should see the release of 33 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.  

The French AFP news agency cited two sources close to Hamas as saying that three Israeli women soldiers will form the first group of hostages released.

French President Emmanuel Macron was also cited as saying that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of 33 hostages to be freed.

One of the sources said the hostages would be first taken to Egypt before being transported to Israel.

Australian police said they were investigating after a series of what they called antisemitic "hate crimes" in a wealthy suburb in the east of Sydney.

Two cars were torched and other vehicles were painted with anti-Jewish slurs near the former home of a Jewish community leader on Friday in Dover Heights.

A house once belonging to prominent Jewish Australian advocate Alex Ryvchin was also splashed with red paint. Police are investigating whether the attack was aimed at him.

"We will hunt you down, we will find you and lock you up," New South Wales state police minister Yasmin Catley said.

"What we are seeing on our streets is totally un-Australian," she said. 

Last week, two synagogues in Sydney were defaced with Nazi symbols, while arsonists set a synagogue in Melbourne on fire in December.

The Australian government has since set up a federal task force to tackle antisemitism.

Group of Seven (G7) leaders have called the ceasefire deal in Gaza "a significant development," stressing what it called a "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian enclave.

In a statement, the G7 urged "all parties to engage constructively" in its next phases of talks "to help ensure [the ceasefire's] full implementation and a permanent end to hostilities."

The G7 also restated its support for the defense of Israel against security threats, calling on "Iran and its proxies to refrain from any further attack against Israel."

In addition, the statement called on "all parties" to "allow the safe, rapid, and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance and ensure the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers" in the Gaza Strip.

The ceasefire deal is still awaiting approval from Israel's Security Cabinet.

The G7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, along with the EU, is a political and economic forum bringing together seven of the world's most advanced economies.  

After mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US, the ceasefire treaty was finalized and announced on Wednesday. As per its provisions, a six-week ceasefire should come into effect on Sunday. 

The first stage will see the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas-led terror attacks of October 7, 2023, in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Israel would also withdraw from Gaza's densely-populated areas and allow Palestinians to return to their areas of residence.

Humanitarian aid corridors that are currently blocked would be opened up to aid organizations entering the Gaza Strip.

An agreement on how to proceed after the first six-week phase however emains elusive. The two sides still have to negotiate terms for a continuation of the ceasefire, the further withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and additional exchanges of hostages and prisoners.

Hamas and other Islamist groups attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 more hostage. Nearly 94 of them are believed to be still in the now devastated Gaza Strip, though it is not clear how many are still alive, after over 15 months of war.

The war has killed over 46,700 Palestinians, local health authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza say. The UN considers the figures reliable.

Israel's extreme-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has threatened to resign from his Cabinet position alongside his party colleagues should the Israeli government approve the ceasefire deal negotiated with Hamas.

"The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal," he said in a televised statement, adding that the release of hundreds of Palestinian militants and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from strategic areas of the Gaza Strip would "erase the achievements of the war" while leaving Hamas undefeated.

He called the deal "irresponsible" and called on humanitarian aid and the supply of water and electricity to the Gaza Strip to be stopped completely until all Israeli hostages were released.

In addition to Ben-Gvir, the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, also opposed the deal, calling it a "dangerous deal."

The Israeli Security Cabinet is set to meet on Friday to vote on a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Netanyahu's office said early on Friday that a "deal to release the hostages" had been reached and he had ordered the Security Cabinet to meet later in the day.

"The government will then convene to approve the deal," the office added, without specifying whether the meeting would also take place on Friday.

The announcement comes after Netanyahu said on Thursday that his Cabinet had postponed its approval of the ceasefire deal, accusing the Palestinian, militant group Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement to achieve last minute concessions. Hamas denied the accusations and stressed its commitment to the deal presented by the mediators.

If approved, the first stage of the truce would see a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners. Later stages aim to see both sides agreeing on a permanent end to the war.

The US said it feels "confident" the truce would come into effect on Sunday as planned.

tg/rmt (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)