The Security Cabinet meeting at Israeli Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem today. Photo credit: Kobi Gideon, Government Press Office, Israel.
Jerusalem/Washington/Geneva/New York: Agreements have been reached between Israel and Hamas on a deal for the release of the hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on the basis of updates from the negotiating team, in Jerusalem today.
Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for the negotiating team and all those who assisted and directed the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing to coordinate the preparations to receive the hostages upon their return to Israel. The Prime Minister’s Office Authority for the Hostages and the Missing also updated the families of the hostages.
“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,” Netanyahu’s office stated.
Following the breakthrough, Netanyahu convened the Security Cabinet, which investigated whether the proposed deal supported the achievement of the war’s objectives. The cabinet evaluated all diplomatic, security, and humanitarian aspects and thereafter recommended that the Government approve the proposed framework.
Before the meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with the negotiating team that had returned from Doha, chaired an operational security assessment on the implementation of the agreement.
The Government was to be convened later in the day, to approve the deal. Pending approval by the Security Cabinet and the Government, and the agreement taking effect, the release of the hostages would be implemented according to the planned framework in which the hostages were expected to be released on Sunday, January 19, 2025.
Incidentally, up until yesterday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continued to receive reports of Palestinians killed due to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Interestingly, yesterday Netanyahu spoke with US President-elect Donald Trump and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the release of the hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.
The Israeli Prime Minister made it clear that he is committed to returning all of the hostages however he can and commended the US President-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism. The two leaders decided to meet in Washington “soon in order to discuss this and other important issues”.
Prime Minister Netanyahu then spoke with US President Joe Biden and thanked him as well for his assistance in advancing the hostage deal.
Trump’s official website announced it was Trump’s electoral victory that drove the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. “While Biden attempts to claim credit for the “framework” he introduced last summer, a deal could only be accomplished after President Trump and his Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, intervened,” the website claimed.
Trump repeatedly said there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages weren’t released before he took office. According to the website, this agreement was a reflection of President Trump’s unwavering commitment to securing America’s interests, protecting our allies, and ensuring American strength prevails.
However, the United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told an interviewer “I focus less on personalities and more on policies. What is a given country actually doing? Doesn’t matter who the individual is. What are they actually doing? He told media persons separately that after over 15 months of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas, “we’ve worked to broker a deal that would bring hostages home, that would stop the fighting, that would surge humanitarian aid to people who so desperately need it, that would create the space to conclude a permanent ceasefire”.
US Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke with President Isaac Herzog of Israel and discussed the ceasefire and hostage deal that has been reached between Israel and Hamas “thanks to the efforts of President [Joe] Biden”, and she expressed that “we expect it to be implemented fully and on schedule”.
At the United Nations headquarters in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres commended the mediators — Egypt, Qatar and the United States of America — “for their dedicated efforts in brokering this deal”. He said this deal was a “critical first step” and stressed the need to mobilise all efforts to also advance broader goals, including the preservation of the unity, contiguity and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said that in preparation for the ceasefire, humanitarian agencies had been mobilizing supplies to scale up aid delivery across the Gaza Strip.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretary-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said although the agreement would only come into effect on Sunday if both sides are committed to a ceasefire, it should start immediately. “WHO remains committed to addressing the acute health needs of the people of Gaza now and after the deal takes effect, and to support the rebuilding of Gaza’s health system. This will be a massive undertaking. Less than half of Gaza’s hospitals are functional,” he said.
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in occupied Palestinian Territory said in Jérusalem that he hoped all parties will respect their commitment to fully implement the deal and work towards much needed lasting peace. He mentioned about over 110,000 injured in Gaza and claimed diseases were on the rise, and the risk of famine persisted. “Only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are operational, and more than 25% of the injured face life-changing injuries. Specialized health care in many areas is unavailable, medical evacuations abroad remain extremely slow, and the breakdown of public order, coupled with the activities of armed gangs, poses serious concerns. Additionally, 664 health attacks since October 2023 have killed civilians and health workers and damaged critical health infrastructure,” he said.
While over $10 billion is required to meet the needs of health system recovery in Gaza, Dr Rik said WHO has prepared a 60-day implementation plan for the ceasefire in line with the Health Cluster ceasefire plan. The plan will focus on expanding the response efforts already underway and scaling up through the different phases of the ceasefire.
– global bihari bureau
