Israel's cabinet is set to meet Friday to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to an official and public broadcaster, as the U.S. mediator expressed confidence the agreement will proceed as planned.
Israel delayed holding a meeting to ratify the cease-fire with Hamas, blaming the Palestinian resistance group for the hold-up, even as Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza in some of the most intense strikes for months. Palestinian authorities said nearly 80 people were killed in the day since the deal was unveiled.
Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the group remained committed to the cease-fire deal, which is scheduled to take effect from Sunday to halt 15 months of Israeli atrocities.
Separately, Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri said there was "no basis" for Israel's accusations.
At least two cabinet members have voiced opposition to the cease-fire, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir saying Thursday that he and his party colleagues would quit the government – but not the ruling coalition – if it approved the "irresponsible" deal.
The truce, announced by mediators Qatar and the U.S. on Wednesday, would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalized.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas on Thursday of reneging "on parts of the agreement... to extort last-minute concessions" and threatened to postpone the cabinet vote until the issues were addressed.
However, an Israeli official later told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the cabinet would meet on Friday to decide on the deal. Public broadcaster KAN also reported the cabinet would convene early Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed the cease-fire would go ahead on schedule. "I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday," he told a news conference in Washington.
The Foreign Ministry of fellow mediator Egypt said in a statement the cease-fire must "start without delay."
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israel pounded several areas of the territory after the deal was announced, killing at least 77 people and wounding hundreds.
The Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military unit of Hamas, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages due to be freed under the deal, and could turn their "freedom... into a tragedy."
Israel's ruthless attacks have destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from local health authorities that the U.N. considers reliable.
The conflict started after the Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, according to Israeli figures.
The group also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are said to be still held in Gaza.
The cease-fire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States, after months of fruitless negotiations to end the deadliest war in Gaza's history.
If finalized, it would pause hostilities one day before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Envoys from both the Trump team and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden were present at the latest negotiations, with a senior Biden official saying the unlikely pairing had been a decisive factor in reaching the deal.
Saeed Alloush, who lives in north Gaza, said he and his loved ones were "waiting for the truce and were happy" until overnight strikes killed many of his relatives.
"It was the happiest night since October 7" until "we received the news of the martyrdom of 40 people from the Alloush family," he said.
In addition to Ben-Gvir, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also opposed the truce, calling it a "dangerous deal."
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, announcing the agreement on Wednesday, said an initial 42-day cease-fire would see 33 hostages released, including women, "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 and allow displaced Palestinians to return "to their residences," he said.
Announcing the deal from the White House, Biden said the second phase of the agreement could bring a "permanent end to the war."
He added the deal would "surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families."
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also underscored the "importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid" into Gaza.
Cairo said it was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction in Gaza, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.
The World Health Organization's representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, said Thursday that at least $10 billion would probably be needed over the next five to seven years to rebuild Gaza's devastated health system alone.
The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to start later this month, welcomed the cease-fire deal.
"What's needed is rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media platform X.
