First Hamas hostages to be released ‘on Sunday’, Israeli government says

The hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas “will begin as planned on Sunday”, the Prime Minister’s Office has said. 

It comes after senior Israeli minister claimed on Thursday that the new ceasefire deal was finally “underway” after the final obstacles to its implementation had been “overcome”.

Aryeh Deri, who chairs the Shas Party, stated that he received the “final announcement” of the agreement.

He told the Times of Israel: “A few minutes ago I received a final announcement that all obstacles have been overcome and the deal is underway.

“I want to congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu, he is responsible for the agreement.”

The deal had been thrown into doubt at the last minute after Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on sections of the framework.

Contentious points reportedly include the presence of Israeli troops in the Philadelphi Corridor, on the Israel-Egypt border, and the pace of hostage releases.

But it would now appear that those issues have been settled.

The minister added that negotiators were now working on “final technical wording” ahead of an official announcement.

The security cabinet was due to meet on Friday morning to ratify the deal and the full government is expected to meet on Saturday evening to approve it.

However, the news comes as the governing coalition faces a crisis, with several key party’s threatening to withdraw.

Deri’s own party, which represents much of the Charedi community, has said it could pull out of the government if Haredi men are not granted an exemption from service in the IDF.

Elsewhere, far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have also signalled that they intend to resign if the ceasefire deal goes through in its current form.

Smotrich, who has dubbed the agreement a “surrender”, is reported to have met with Netanyahu behind closed door earlier this week.

His conditions to remain in government are believed to include a resumption of the war in Gaza if Hamas is not dissolved within 42 days, greater Israeli territorial control of the Strip and measures to encourage the “voluntary emigration” of its population.

Allies of Smotrich indicated earlier today that these conditions had not been met and that his Religious Zionism Party was “likely” to pull out.

If any combination of the three parties chooses to withdraw its support for the coalition, the government could collpase at a crucial diplomatic juncture.