Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday announced that the Israeli cabinet will convene to provide final approval for a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which includes the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, Israeli warplanes continued their intense strikes, with Palestinian authorities reporting late on Thursday that at least 86 people were killed the day after the truce was announced.
Amid ongoing divisions among ministers, Israel postponed meetings that were anticipated on Thursday, when the cabinet was set to vote on the pact, attributing the delay to Hamas.
However, in the early hours of Friday, Netanyahu’s office indicated that approval was forthcoming.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages,” his office said in a statement.
The security cabinet would meet on Friday before a full meeting of the cabinet later to approve the deal, it said.
“The Prime Minister (Netanyahu) has also directed the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing to coordinate the preparations to receive the hostages upon their return to Israel.
“The State of Israel is committed to achieving all of the objectives of the war including the return of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” the statement added.
It was not immediately clear whether the full cabinet would meet on Friday or Saturday or whether there would be any delay to the start of the ceasefire on Sunday.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said Washington believed the agreement was on track and a ceasefire in the 15-month-old conflict was expected to proceed “as soon as late this weekend.”
“We are seeing nothing that would tell us that this is going to get derailed at this point,” he said on CNN on Thursday.
A group representing families of Israeli hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom are due to be freed in the first six-week phase of the accord, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward quickly.
“For the 98 hostages, each night is another night of terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night,” the group said in a statement late on Thursday carried by Israeli media.
