Cabinet approves ceasefire in Gaza, release of dozens of hostages

Jerusalem (Team Newsbuddy). Big news has come out from Israel. According to AP report, the Israeli cabinet has approved the agreement for ceasefire in Gaza and release of dozens of hostages. Let us tell you that Israel’s Security Cabinet held an important meeting on Friday. The main issue of this meeting was whether to approve the agreement, which could release dozens of people held hostage by terrorists in Gaza and stop the 15-month-long war.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came out, in which it said that there were some last minute hurdles in finalizing the agreement. Earlier, Israel delayed the Security Cabinet’s vote on Thursday, citing the dispute with Hamas as the reason for the delay in approval.

PM Netanyahu had said that he has directed the preparation of a special task force to take hostages returning from Gaza. The Prime Minister’s Office had said that a ceasefire could begin with the release of the initial hostages on Sunday if the agreement is complete. Under this agreement, 33 of the approximately 100 hostages remaining in Gaza are to be released in the next six weeks, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. In addition, the Israeli army will withdraw from several areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be able to return to their homes, and humanitarian aid will increase. The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in the second phase.

However, this agreement was strongly opposed by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners. It is also worth knowing that the Israeli Prime Minister is also dependent on these allies to remain in power.