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Gaza ceasefire to begin Sunday morning after Israeli gov't votes in approval

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 Demonstrators rally for a deal that brings all hostages home, January 16, 2025. (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Demonstrators rally for a deal that brings all hostages home, January 16, 2025.
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Government approves the hostage deal after seven hours of deliberation

Netanyahu told the cabinet that President-elect Trump had given his full backing for Israel to restart the war should Hamas violate the agreement and would unfreeze arms shipments.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a speech ahead of a cabinet meeting on December 3, 2024 (photo credit: SCREENSHOT/YOUTUBE/ISRAELIPM/NOAM MATRY/GPO)Enlrage image
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a speech ahead of a cabinet meeting on December 3, 2024
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/YOUTUBE/ISRAELIPM/NOAM MATRY/GPO)

The Israeli government approved the hostage deal at 1 a.m. on Saturday after over seven hours of debate, Walla reported.

Twenty-four ministers voted in favor, and eight ministers voted against.

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Explainer | Who is Hisham al-Sayed, the Bedouin Israeli held by Hamas since 2015?

Hisham al-Sayed, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, crossed into the West Bank, Jordan and Gaza multiple times before Hamas abducted him in 2015.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Hisham al-Sayed. (photo credit: Bring Them Home Now)Enlrage image
Hisham al-Sayed.
(photo credit: Bring Them Home Now)

Hisham al-Sayed was 27 when he wandered into southern Gaza and was promptly abducted by Hamas. Now, at age 36, the Bedouin-Israeli may be returning to his hometown al-Hura as part of the first phase of a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and his terrorist captors.

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Foreign hostages expected to be released in first phase of deal

CNN reported that 10 foreign hostages could be released with the announced 33 hostages.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Hostages square Tel Aviv (photo credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)Enlrage image
Hostages square Tel Aviv
(photo credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Foreign hostages in Gaza are expected to be released in addition to the announced list of 33 hostages, a source familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday. 

According to CNN, the Prime Minister's Office has previously confirmed that of the hostages in Gaza, eight are from Thailand, one is from Nepal, and one is from Tanzania. Three of them are believed to be dead.

Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the foreign hostages would not be released in the first phase of the deal but that the government expected Hamas to release them as a gesture of goodwill to their respective countries. 

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Gov't meeting to approve hostage deal begins

By MAARIV ONLINE
  (photo credit: GILI YAARI /FLASH90)Enlrage image
(photo credit: GILI YAARI /FLASH90)

The Israeli government began the meeting to approve a hostage deal Friday evening.

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Who is Avera Mengistu, the Hamas hostage set to be released after 11 years in captivity?

Avera Mengistu, a young Israeli of Ethiopian descent, mistakenly crossed into Gaza in 2014. Now 11 years after his abduction, his status has raised alarms for members of his community.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
 Avera Mengistu (photo credit: Bring Them Home Now)Enlrage image
Avera Mengistu
(photo credit: Bring Them Home Now)

Among the 33 names of captives set to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas is Avera Mengistu. Unlike the majority of those listed, Mengistu was not abducted on October 7, 2023, but has spent 11 years in Hamas captivity.

Mengistu, an Israeli Jew of Ethiopian descent, was said to have been suffering from mental illness when he voluntarily entered the Gaza Strip on September 7, 2014.

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Who are the Bibas family set to be released in first phase of new hostage deal?

The young family, Yarden Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. The youngest member, Kfir, has spent most of his life as a hostage.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
 Posters of kidnapped Israelis, including the Bibas family, is seen in photographs taken March 5, 2024 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)Enlrage image
Posters of kidnapped Israelis, including the Bibas family, is seen in photographs taken March 5, 2024
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Yarden Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas were among the 33 names listed to be released from Hamas captivity under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, which was confirmed to have been signed Friday.

The young family, abducted by invading terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz, has garnered wide coverage as sons Kfir and Ariel were the youngest civilians abducted by the Gaza-based terror group. 

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Justice Ministry releases names of Palestinian prisoners to be released in deal

The list of names on the ministry's website shows that a vast majority of those arrested were after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 Palestinian terrorists from Fatah carry their weapons during a parade in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, September 29, 2023 (photo credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)Enlrage image
Palestinian terrorists from Fatah carry their weapons during a parade in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, September 29, 2023
(photo credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)

The Israeli Justice Ministry released a page on its website on Friday that listed 95 Palestinian prisoners that would be released in a hostage release deal with Hamas.

According to the deal's outline, their release will not take place before Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Most of the prisoners on the list are women, and only one prisoner on the list under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest was convicted of murder, according to a Ynet report.

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Israeli security cabinet votes to approve hostage deal ahead of gov’t vote

Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir voted against the deal.

By AMICHAI STEIN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 Security cabinet meets to approve hostage deal. January 17, 2025. (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)Enlrage image
Security cabinet meets to approve hostage deal. January 17, 2025.
(photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)

The Israeli security cabinet voted Friday afternoon to recommend the government approve the outline for the hostage deal after "understanding that the proposed deal helps achieve some of the war's goals," the Prime Minister's office announced.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voted against the deal. Likud MK Dudi Amsalem also expressed his opposition.

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Gov't set to meet at 3:30 p.m. to approve hostage deal

By AMICHAI STEIN
 breaking news (photo credit: JPOST STAFF)Enlrage image
breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

The government is set to convene at 3:30 p.m. on Friday to approve the hostage deal.

On Friday morning, the Security Cabinet meeting to approve the hostage deal began in Jerusalem. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cited by Israeli media as saying during the meeting that Israel had received guarantees from the US that were negotiations regarding the second phase of the deal to fail, Israel would be able to return to fight in the Gaza Strip. 

Prior to the meeting, Netanyahu conducted a situational assessment with the Israeli negotiating team, which had returned from Doha, where the deal was signed in the early hours of Friday. 

 Security cabinet meets to approve hostage deal. January 17, 2025. (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)Enlrage image Security cabinet meets to approve hostage deal. January 17, 2025. (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
 

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Cabinet meeting to approve hostage deal begins

By AMICHAI STEIN
 breaking news (photo credit: JPOST STAFF)Enlrage image
breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

The Security Cabinet meeting to approve the hostage deal began in Jerusalem on Friday morning. 

 

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Details of the Gaza hostage deal

  • 33 hostages to be released in the first phase
  • IDF preparing to withdraw from areas of Gaza ahead of ceasefire
  • Biden says American hostages to be released in first phase