Israeli cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas

The Israeli cabinet ratified the ceasefire agreement early on Saturday morning after meeting for more than six hours, as Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement, Al Jazeera reported.

It said that the cabinet has approved the framework for the return of the prisoners, adding that the framework for their release will come into effect on Sunday.

With the deal bitterly opposed by some Israeli cabinet hardliners, media reports said 24 ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet voted in favor of the deal while eight opposed it. The Israeli security cabinet had voted in favor of the ceasefire deal earlier on Friday.

Under the deal, the ceasefire starts with an initial six-week phase where captives in Gaza are released in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, which opens the way to ending the 15-month-old war.

After the ceasefire was ratified by the cabinet, Israeli reime’s officials released an updated list of 737 Palestinian detainees slated to be freed in the first phase of the agreement, which will take place “not before” 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday.

The list includes several members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah movement, who are serving life sentences, according to a report published by Israeli media.