Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early Friday that its cabinet approved U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.
The statement said the cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial. The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Sunday or Monday.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s top negotiator on the Gaza conflict, said the U.S. military confirmed that Israeli soldiers have pulled back as part of the ceasefire agreement on Friday.
“The 72 hour period to release the hostages has begun,” Witkoff wrote on social media at 7 a.m. ET.
- This Sunday,Cross Country Checkupis asking: What’s at stake for you in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire? What questions do you have about the deal? Fill out this form and you could appear on the show or have your comment read on air.
In his cabinet meeting Thursday, Trump said the hostage release is a complicated process, adding, “they are in places you don’t want to be.”
Details on how the exchange will work are still sparse. Here’s what we know.
WATCH | What will happen in the next 72 hours:
CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsneaut breaks down what the next 72 hours could look like, now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Gaza peace deal.
48 hostages, 1,950 prisoners
The agreement says that within 72 hours of the military’s redeployment, all 48 hostages are to be released from the Gaza Strip and handed over to Israeli security forces.
The 48 hostages include 20 who are known to be alive. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of some dead hostages may take longer, as not all burial sites are known.
Gal Hirsch, Israel’s hostage co-ordinator, said on Thursday that an international force would help find remains of any dead hostages that cannot be located by Hamas.
After the hostages are released, Israel will release 250 Palestinians convicted or suspected of security crimes, as well as 1,700 adults and 22 minors detained in Gaza during the war, and the bodies of 360 fighters.
Palestinians detained in Gaza will be released back to Gaza. Prisoners convicted of killing Israelis will be released to Gaza or deported abroad, and will be barred permanently from the West Bank and Israel.
Red Cross facilitating
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be facilitating the exchange. The ICRC was involved in prisoner and hostage releases in the two previous ceasefires during the war.
In a post on their website, the Red Cross explains that once an agreement has been reached by parties to the conflict, their role is to safely facilitate the transfer of released hostages out of the Gaza Strip to an agreed-upon location.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the Red Cross says the expected hostage and prisoner release will be more challenging than previous ones given the scale and speed of the operation.
Christian Cardon, chief spokesman for the ICRC, said Friday that while the group is expected to play a role as hostages are released from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel, it has not been given details in terms of when, how or where the releases would occur.
“Our colleagues are preparing themselves for all possible scenarios,” said Cardon.
He said that the terms of the deal, which call for the hostages to be released from Gaza within 72 hours, was an “extremely” tight time frame.
Marwan Barghouti not on prisoner list
Hamas is seeking freedom for some of the most prominent Palestinian convicts held in Israeli jails.
A list of those prisoners published Friday by Israel did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian leader who has spent more than two decades imprisoned for deadly attacks.
According to the Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post, the list also does not include Popular Front leader Ahmad Sa’adat or senior Hamas figures Ibrahim Hamed and Hassan Salameh.
But it does reportedly include Ra’ad Sheikh, a Palestinian police officer who took part in the Ramallah lynching, and Iyad Abu al-Rub, the Islamic Jihad commander in Jenin who was behind several deadly attacks, writes the Jerusalem Post.
According to the Times of Israel, of the 250 prisoners, “15 will be freed to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank and 135 are slated for deportation.”
WATCH | Who’s Marwan Barghouti?:
Despite more than two decades in an Israeli jail, Marwan Barghouti remains the most popular Palestinian leader. For The National, CBC’s Margaret Evans explains why some say his release is key to peace in the region — and why that would be a hard ask for Israel.
