•Men and children stand by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa street, Gaza city, yesterday
Hamas has approved a draft deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Israel’s cabinet debating the conditions, officials suggest.
A truce, if agreed, would put an end to over a year of war in the Gaza Strip, reports AFP.
Israel’s cabinet should approve a ceasefire deal despite opposition from senior ministers, according to the latest statement from Israeli officials yesterday.
“We are in decisive moments regarding the return of the abductees, and we, the cabinet members, will ensure their return to their families,” Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said, implying that an agreement could make the final hurdle through Israel’s cabinet.
Hamas and Israel are approving the “final details” of a ceasefire deal, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said yesterday in what appeared to be the most promising push to end hostilities between the pair in months.
Two officials involved in the talks said that Hamas had already accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire deal, which would include a pause in fighting and the immediate release of a dozen Israeli hostages.
The plan, however, would need Israeli approval to proceed, and Netanyahu is facing opposition from hardliners in his government over the deal.
His National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the proposed truce “terrible” in a lengthy post on social media, saying it would “erase the war achievements that have been achieved with much blood by our fighters, so far, in the Gaza Strip.”
US President Joe Biden, who brokered the truce along with Qatar and Egypt, has said that the deal is based on one he laid out in detail in May which would involve a so-called three part “phased ceasefire”.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Tuesday confirmed Israel was seeking the release of 33 hostages as part of the first stage.
Last week, Hamas indicated it had agreed to release 34 hostages in the first stage of a multi-phase deal, but Israeli forces retrieved the body of one of those listed, reducing the total to 33.
Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the “16th day” after the first phase’s implementation, an Israeli official said.
This phase would cover the release of the remaining captives, including “male soldiers, men of military age, and the bodies of slain hostages”, the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase.
Israeli forces would not fully withdraw from Gaza until “all hostages are returned”, the Israeli official said.
Haaretz reported that Israel would allow the movement of residents from southern Gaza to the north.
