Deal with Hamas

Release of hostages to begin on Sunday

Hopefully the "bring them home" demand for all remaining Hamas hostages will be met soon.

(Bild: APA/AP)

Despite the delays over the last few metres and the disagreements in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, the ceasefire agreement with the radical Islamic terrorist organization Hamas is in place. Netanyahu's office has announced that the release of the Hamas hostages is to begin on Sunday.

In a first phase, a total of 33 hostages who were abducted by the Palestinian organization Hamas and groups allied with it during their attack on 7 October 2023 are to be released. The Israeli security cabinet met on Friday morning to discuss the agreement with Hamas. The government will only meet at a later date to approve the agreement, according to Netanyahu's office. Approval of the agreement by the security cabinet and the entire government is considered certain, despite opposition from far-right politicians. 

Benjamin Netanyahu's government is in turmoil because of the agreement. Several ministers have threatened to withdraw if the deal with Hamas is signed.

(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/ABIR SULTAN)

According to the Times of Israel, the government's vote is planned for Saturday evening. The background to this is that opponents of the agreement still have 24 hours to lodge an objection to it with the Supreme Court. As Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, begins on Friday evening, religious people would not have enough time. The newspaper reported that the deadline for submitting petitions would therefore only end late on Sunday - and the agreement could therefore only come into force on Monday. It is actually due to begin on Sunday at 11.15 am CET.

Threats of resignation in Netanyahu's cabinet
Several far-right politicians are threatening to leave the government if the agreement is approved. Netanyahu could therefore lose his governing majority in parliament if several parties make good on their threats.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" reported that Hamas will only announce the names of the hostages earmarked for release on the day of their release. Israel will only publish them as soon as the hostages have been handed over to the Israeli army and their families have been informed. Meanwhile, Israeli media have already published a list with the names of the 33 abductees who are to be released in the first phase - including women, two children, elderly people and apparently also the Austrian-Israeli dual citizen Tal Shoham.

USA believes in the stability of the ceasefire
The USA assumes that the ceasefire will begin as planned. The agreement is on track and the ceasefire is expected to come into force "this weekend", said presidential spokesman John Kirby. "We see nothing to indicate that the agreement is failing at this point," he said on CNN on Thursday.