Israel’s Security Cabinet meeting ends without vote on Gaza ceasefire deal
Subsequent government meeting to be held 10 pm on Thursday to approve agreement
ISTANBUL
A meeting of Israel's Security Cabinet concluded Thursday evening without a vote on a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The Cabinet meeting was called to approve the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement, which was originally scheduled for 5 pm local time but was delayed by more than an hour, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
A subsequent government session to approve the agreement was postponed until 10 pm after a four-hour delay.
A government spokesperson earlier said that the Gaza ceasefire agreement will take effect within 24 hours of being approved.
“Within 24 hours of the Cabinet meeting, the ceasefire in Gaza will begin,” Shosh Bedrosian said, without mentioning a specific time for its implementation.
The ceasefire agreement was announced at dawn on Thursday following four days of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with mediation from Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and the US.
On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan for Gaza that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.
Phase two of the plan calls for establishing a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a security force made up of Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas. It also stipulates Arab and Islamic funding for the new administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, with limited participation from the Palestinian Authority.
Arab and Muslim countries have welcomed the plan, but some officials have also said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.
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