Gaza truce: Israel says first hostages to be freed on Sunday

The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed this Friday, January 17, that the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners will begin “according to the planned plan” on Sunday, while the Security Cabinet continues meeting today, which must give the green light to the implementation of cease fire in Gaza on Sunday.

“Once the (security) cabinet and the government give their approval and the agreement comes into force, the release of the hostages will be carried out according to the planned plan, according to which it is expected that the (first) hostages be released on Sunday,” Netanyahu’s Office announced in a statement this Friday.

At this time, the meeting of the Security Cabinet, made up of a small group of ministers and senior security officials, continues in Jerusalem, but until tomorrow night it is not expected that the entire Government will vote on the agreement, as an Israeli official confirmed to EFE. .

Shortly before the Security Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu conducted a security assessment on the implementation of the agreement with the Israeli negotiating team, which returned from Doha last night after signing the ceasefire agreement.

It was expected that both the Security Cabinet and the Israeli Government would vote on Thursday to approve the ceasefire in Gaza, after more than 15 months of war and will progressively release the 94 hostages (living and dead) who are still in the enclave.

But Netanyahu accused Hamas of trying to achieve “last minute” concessions and of wanting to include heavy Palestinian prisoners accused of murdering Israelis in the agreed exchange, so he canceled the vote.

This morning, amid fears that the ceasefire announced Wednesday night by Qatar would collapse, the Netanyahu’s office He assured that the discrepancies with Hamas had been resolved by the mediators, and that the agreement was moving forward.

“The negotiating team informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an agreement had been reached to release the hostages,” the office announced in a statement today at 3:30 a.m. in Israel, which now only has The Government gives the green light tomorrow night after the Sabbath.

Waiting for the truce in Gaza

The US Secretary of State, Antony BlinkenHowever, he noted that he is “confident” that the pact will be implemented as planned starting Sunday.

Before the start of the truce, Displaced Palestinians were preparing to return home. “I’m waiting for Sunday morning when they announce the ceasefire,” says Nasr al Gharabli, who fled Gaza City in the north for a refugee camp further south.

“I’m going to kiss my land. I regret having left it. If I had died in my land, it would have been better than being displaced here,” he says.

The war, which has left Gaza with a level of destruction “unprecedented in recent history”, according to the UN, broke out on October 7, 2023 after the bloody attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.

Islamist commandos killed 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. They also kidnapped 251 people, of whom 94 remain in Gaza. At least 34 of them have died, according to the Israeli army.

Israel launched a retaliatory campaign that has killed at least 46,788 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable.