The Japan Times - Israeli cabinet to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal

EUR -
AED 3.806062
AFN 78.367375
ALL 99.666662
AMD 414.886103
ANG 1.869937
AOA 472.514554
ARS 1090.727365
AUD 1.6614
AWG 1.867778
AZN 1.76568
BAM 1.955734
BBD 2.09493
BDT 126.525762
BGN 1.95559
BHD 0.391187
BIF 3071.197128
BMD 1.036215
BND 1.408053
BOB 7.16976
BRL 6.053612
BSD 1.037565
BTN 89.827991
BWP 14.451516
BYN 3.395486
BYR 20309.819708
BZD 2.08413
CAD 1.506813
CDF 2956.322601
CHF 0.94437
CLF 0.037078
CLP 1023.10573
CNY 7.447076
CNH 7.585656
COP 4309.555648
CRC 523.382469
CUC 1.036215
CUP 27.459705
CVE 110.261307
CZK 25.201071
DJF 184.763811
DKK 7.462864
DOP 64.097853
DZD 140.180305
EGP 52.046257
ERN 15.543229
ETB 132.907048
FJD 2.407077
FKP 0.853413
GBP 0.836096
GEL 2.96398
GGP 0.853413
GHS 15.874468
GIP 0.853413
GMD 75.129599
GNF 8968.699587
GTQ 8.025731
GYD 217.072729
HKD 8.073102
HNL 26.431115
HRK 7.6468
HTG 135.715454
HUF 407.802929
IDR 16947.560142
ILS 3.70332
IMP 0.853413
INR 89.830903
IQD 1359.154474
IRR 43624.664125
ISK 146.687036
JEP 0.853413
JMD 163.634519
JOD 0.734888
JPY 160.815473
KES 133.845517
KGS 90.617425
KHR 4174.86016
KMF 489.974798
KPW 932.593877
KRW 1510.574324
KWD 0.319652
KYD 0.864671
KZT 537.641991
LAK 22573.243893
LBP 92912.887816
LKR 309.199643
LRD 206.473084
LSL 19.366651
LTL 3.059675
LVL 0.626797
LYD 5.093829
MAD 10.414751
MDL 19.371351
MGA 4824.838389
MKD 61.527939
MMK 3365.586846
MNT 3521.059671
MOP 8.328621
MRU 41.564608
MUR 48.339835
MVR 15.96847
MWK 1799.139737
MXN 21.43163
MYR 4.616379
MZN 66.22491
NAD 19.366651
NGN 1557.431939
NIO 38.178721
NOK 11.72965
NPR 143.725186
NZD 1.83255
OMR 0.398917
PAB 1.037565
PEN 3.859771
PGK 4.224858
PHP 60.536773
PKR 289.399406
PLN 4.213559
PYG 8183.72588
QAR 3.782073
RON 4.975288
RSD 117.126077
RUB 102.196577
RWF 1472.750669
SAR 3.886799
SBD 8.759842
SCR 14.862476
SDG 622.765742
SEK 11.498678
SGD 1.406355
SHP 0.853413
SLE 23.703464
SLL 21728.916467
SOS 592.980138
SRD 36.370643
STD 21447.564418
SVC 9.078696
SYP 13472.871201
SZL 19.354352
THB 35.018935
TJS 11.34562
TMT 3.637116
TND 3.313889
TOP 2.426924
TRY 36.977382
TTD 7.037764
TWD 34.138152
TZS 2645.71138
UAH 43.270951
UGX 3819.872051
USD 1.036215
UYU 44.898496
UZS 13462.549062
VES 60.484509
VND 25988.279504
VUV 123.02156
WST 2.90226
XAF 655.935029
XAG 0.0331
XAU 0.00037
XCD 2.800424
XDR 0.793173
XOF 655.935029
XPF 119.331742
YER 257.888119
ZAR 19.346927
ZMK 9327.184796
ZMW 29.026028
ZWL 333.660901
  • CMSC

    -0.2100

    23.47

    -0.89%

  • CMSD

    -0.3800

    23.84

    -1.59%

  • NGG

    -0.3400

    61.4

    -0.55%

  • SCS

    -0.1600

    11.48

    -1.39%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0600

    7.43

    -0.81%

  • BTI

    -0.0400

    39.64

    -0.1%

  • RBGPF

    67.2700

    67.27

    +100%

  • RIO

    -0.5000

    60.41

    -0.83%

  • VOD

    -0.0700

    8.54

    -0.82%

  • GSK

    -0.0900

    35.27

    -0.26%

  • BCC

    -2.5000

    126.16

    -1.98%

  • RELX

    -0.4600

    49.89

    -0.92%

  • BP

    -0.5500

    31.06

    -1.77%

  • AZN

    -0.4800

    70.76

    -0.68%

  • BCE

    -0.1100

    23.79

    -0.46%

  • JRI

    -0.0400

    12.53

    -0.32%

Israeli cabinet to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal
Israeli cabinet to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal / Photo: Eyad BABA - AFP

Israeli cabinet to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal

Israel's cabinet was expected to meet Thursday to approve a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, Israeli media reported, a day after mediators announced an agreement they hope will lead to a permanent end to the Gaza war.

Text size:

The truce would take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a broader peace deal would be finalised, the prime minister of mediator Qatar said Wednesday.

It would cap months of fruitless negotiations to end the deadliest war in Gaza's history, pausing hostilities just days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, whose Middle East envoy was involved in the talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with both US President Joe Biden and Trump on Wednesday, his office said, thanking them for their help securing the agreement but also cautioning that "final details" were still being hammered out.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role, said the deal was the "right move" to bring back hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war.

That attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's ensuing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv calling for the release of the hostages rejoiced as news of the agreement spread, while thousands across Gaza celebrated the reported deal.

"I can't believe that this nightmare of more than a year is finally coming to an end. We have lost so many people, we've lost everything," said Randa Sameeh, a 45-year-old displaced from her home in Gaza City.

Hamas said the ceasefire was the "result of the legendary steadfastness of our great Palestinian people and our valiant resistance in the Gaza Strip".

Even as thousands across Gaza celebrated the ceasefire, the territory's civil defence agency said at least 20 people were killed in Israeli strikes after the agreement was announced.

- 'Last page of the war'

Israeli media reported that the cabinet was set to vote on the ceasefire agreement on Thursday morning, even though two of Netanyahu's ministers have publicly opposed it.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the agreement was a "bad and dangerous deal for the security of the State of Israel" while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he opposed the "disastrous deal".

Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days as mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States intensified efforts to cement an agreement.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani told a press conference Wednesday that the "two belligerents in the Gaza Strip have reached a deal".

"We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement," he said.

He said the three countries would monitor the implementation of the ceasefire via a body based in Cairo.

During the initial 42-day ceasefire, 33 hostages would be released, he said, "including civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people, as well as civilian ill people and wounded".

Also in the first phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza's densely populated areas to allow for the exchanges, as well as "the return of the displaced people to their residences", he said.

The number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for the Israeli hostages in the second and third phases would be "finalised" during the initial 42 days, he said.

Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage during the October 7 attack, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

- Unlikely pairing -

Announcing the deal from the White House, Biden said he was "deeply satisfied this day has come", calling the negotiations some of the "toughest" of his career.

He added that an as-yet unfinalised second phase of the agreement would bring a "permanent end to the war", saying he was "confident" the deal would hold.

Envoys from both Trump's incoming administration and Biden's outgoing one had been present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.

"This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November" in the US election, Trump said on social media.

The president-elect added that his White House would "continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven".

- Aid needed -

Biden said the deal would "surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also underscored the "importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid" into Gaza as he welcomed news of the deal.

Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera news outlet cited a security source as saying coordination was "underway" to reopen the Rafah crossing on Gaza's border with Egypt to allow the entry of aid.

The UN's Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, has said it will continue providing much-needed aid.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini welcomed news of the deal in a post on social media platform X.

"Many have been hoping for this moment for the past 15 months," he said. "What's needed is rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war."

K.Yoshida--JT