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Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet is expected to vote on the Gaza ceasefire agreement on Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced, after confirming that it had reached an agreement with Hamas.
U.S.-led mediators announced Wednesday that the two sides had agreed to a phased deal to end the 15-month war and free the 98 hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group.
But formal approval from Israel was delayed due to disagreements with Hamas over whether Palestinian prisoners should be released and political tensions within Netanyahu’s government.
The prime minister’s office said Friday that Netanyahu had called a security cabinet meeting to approve the deal later in the day, which would be followed by formal approval by the government as a whole.
While the Israeli government had previously accused Hamas of reneging on the deal, the prime minister’s office added that Netanyahu had been “informed by the negotiating team that agreements had been reached on a deal for the release of the hostages “.
According to a person familiar with the Israeli government’s deliberations, Friday’s security cabinet meeting is expected to give its approval to the deal, with the full government expected to meet and vote Saturday evening after the Sabbath.
By law, the Israeli public then has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court against the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails that are part of the deal. This made it “likely”, the source added, that implementation of the agreement would not begin until Monday.
Mediators had previously said they were confident the ceasefire would come into effect and the first three Israeli hostages would be released by midday on Sunday.
Netanyahu is also trying to manage a brewing political crisis at home, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announcing Thursday evening that he and his Jewish Power party would leave the ruling coalition if the deal ” reckless” was approved.
Ben-Gvir and his ultranationalist ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, had repeatedly threatened to leave Netanyahu’s government if he agreed to a deal ending the war.
Jewish Power’s departure would leave the prime minister’s coalition with a two-seat majority in the Israeli parliament. It would also put additional pressure on Smotrich’s Religious Zionist party to follow suit and withdraw.
Although Ben-Gvir and Smotrich do not appear to have enough support within the cabinet to torpedo approval of the deal, if they both withdraw their far-right parties from government, the coalition would lose its majority parliamentary.
Israel’s political system does not prohibit minority governments, and opposition parties have said they are ready to support Netanyahu’s coalition if necessary, but the loss of his two allies would shake the prime minister’s grip on power and could lead to early elections.
