Photo by
Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL on 17 January, 2025
Ceasefire Finalized, Government to Meet Saturday Night to Approve It
Jerusalem, 17 January, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Israel and Hamas finalized a much-anticipated ceasefire agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Friday morning.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been updated by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal for the release of the hostages,” his office announced.
The deal’s finalization means the Security Cabinet will meet on Friday and then the full Cabinet will be convened on Saturday night to ratify it.
“The State of Israel is committed to achieving all of the objectives of the war including the return of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu’s statement said.
The Families’ Headquarters for the Abductees denounced the Cabinet’s scheduling of the ceasefire’s ratification on Saturday night.
“For the 98 abductees, every night is another night of a terrible nightmare. Do not delay their return even for one more night.
We call on the decision-makers – put other matters aside, return everyone with the requisite urgency,” the Family Headquarters said.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the full Cabinet could not be convened before Friday night, when the Jewish Sabbath begins.
The agreement, which Qatari officials said would take effect on Sunday, outlines a series of prisoner and hostage exchanges. Of the 98 hostages, 33 women, children, elderly and sick captives would be released in the first stage in exchange for 110 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. It wasn’t immediately clear if the first hostage release would be delayed until Monday.
The most contentious aspect of the agreement is that the fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
The ceasefire would potentially lead to the release of some 1,000 Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. While many would be sent back to their homes in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, high-profile prisoners will be deported. After Israeli authorities publish a list of prisoners to be released, terror victims will have an opportunity to file legal petitions.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 95 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
