By Andrew Mills, Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie
DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli cabinet will meet to give final approval to a deal with militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and a release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday, amidst concern the accord may be delayed.
In Gaza itself, Israeli warplanes kept up intense strikes, and the Civil Emergency Service said on Friday that at least 101 people, including 58 women and children, had been killed since the deal was announced.
With longstanding divisions apparent among ministers, Israel delayed meetings expected on Thursday when the cabinet was expected to vote on the pact, blaming Hamas for the hold-up.
But in the early hours of Friday, Netanyahu’s office said approval was imminent and the restricted security cabinet is due to meet on Friday before a full cabinet meeting to ratify the deal that will be held later.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages,” his office said in a statement.
The prime minister’s office has not commented on the timing.
HARDLINE OPPOSITION
Underscoring the potential obstacles facing a final ceasefire, hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition have opposed the deal as a capitulation to Hamas, which runs Gaza, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it is approved. However, he said he would not bring down the government.
His fellow hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also threatened to quit the government if it does not go back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire was completed.
Nevertheless, a majority of ministers was expected to back the agreement.
If successful, the ceasefire would halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed over 46,000 people, and displaced most of the tiny enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million several times over, according to local authorities.
Palestinians are also suffering from a humanitarian crisis that includes shortages of food, fuel and water.
In Gaza on Friday, mourners gathered around the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike as women hugged each other and cried.
“Life has become an unbearable hell,” said resident Jomaa Abed al-Aal.
In the aftermath of one strike on tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis, a boy picked through damaged items on the floor that was littered with canned food and coffee pots.
That attack killed two people and wounded seven others at an encampment close to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to medics.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strikes.
HOSTAGE FAMILIES WANT SWIFT ACTION
A group representing families of Israeli hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom are due to be freed in the first six-week phase of the accord, urged Netanyahu to move forward quickly.
“For the 98 hostages, each night is another night of terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night,” the group said in a statement late on Thursday carried by Israeli media.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday a “loose end” in the negotiations needed to be resolved.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this was a dispute over the identities of some prisoners Hamas wanted released. Envoys of President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump were in Doha with Egyptian and Qatari mediators working to resolve it, the official said.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal.
The ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Dozens of hostages taken by Hamas including women, children, elderly and sick people would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
It paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the majority of the population has been displaced, facing hunger, sickness and cold.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Maayan Lubell and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem, Jana Choukeir, Clauda Tanios and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai; additional reporting by Emily Rose, Howard Goller, Ramadan Abed, Steve Holland and Alexander Cornwell; Writing by Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates and Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Sharon Singleton)
