Benjamin Netanyahu’s safety cabinet endorsed the Gaza ceasefire deal on Friday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said, paving the way for his government’s final approval of the truce.
US-led mediators had announced on Wednesday that both parties had agreed a multiphase deal to halt the 15-month war and free the 98 hostages still held by the Palestinian militant throng.
But formal approval by Israel was delayed amid disagreements with Hamas over which Palestinian prisoners should be released and political tensions inside Netanyahu’s government.
The prime minister’s office said on Friday that Netanyahu’s safety cabinet had endorsed the deal, which then needed to be approved by a majority vote of all the ministers in government.
The cabinet agreed to the deal “after examining all the diplomatic, safety and humanitarian aspects; and with the understanding that the proposed agreement supports the achievement of the war’s goals”, it said.
An Israeli official said the government was expected to meet on Friday afternoon.
Netanyahu’s office said that implementation of the deal and the release of hostages would commence on Sunday if both the safety cabinet and the government approved it.
While the Israeli government had previously accused Hamas of backtracking on the agreement, the prime minister’s office said overnight that Netanyahu had been “updated by the negotiating throng that agreements have been reached on a deal for the release of the hostages”.
Netanyahu is also attempting to manage a brewing political crisis at home, with far-correct national safety minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announcing on Thursday night that he and his Jewish Power event would leave the ruling coalition if the “reckless” deal were approved.
Ben-Gvir and his ultranationalist friend, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, had repeatedly threatened to leave Netanyahu’s government if it accepted an agreement that would complete the war.
The departure of Jewish Power would leave the premier’s coalition with a two-seat majority in Israel’s parliament. It would also pile pressure on Smotrich’s Religious Zionism event to pursue suit and withdraw, although prospects appear to be growing that they will remain in government during the deal’s initial six-week stage.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich do not have enough back inside the government to torpedo the deal itself, although if they both pull their far-correct parties out of the government, the coalition would misplace its parliamentary majority.
Israel’s political structure does not bar minority governments, and opposition parties have said they are prepared to prop up Netanyahu’s coalition if needed, but the deficit of his two allies would shake the prime minister’s hold on power and could navigator to early elections.
