AP obtains draft of Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal
The Associated Press news agency says officials from Egypt and Hamas have confirmed the authenticity.
Here’s what the AP is reporting:
Phase 1: (42 Days)
- Hamas releases 33 captives, including female civilians and soldiers, children and civilians over 50.
- On the first official day of the ceasefire, Hamas is to free three captives, then another four on the seventh day. After that, it will make weekly releases.
- Israel releases 30 Palestinian prisoners for each civilian captive and 50 for each female soldier.
- A halt to fighting and Israeli forces move out of populated areas to the edges of the Gaza Strip.
- Displaced Palestinians begin returning home; more aid enters the Strip.
Phase 2: (42 Days)
- Declaration of “sustainable calm”.
- Hamas frees remaining male captives (soldiers and civilians) in exchange for a yet-to-be-negotiated number of Palestinian prisoners and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
Phase 3:
- Bodies of deceased Israeli captives exchanged for bodies of deceased Palestinian fighters.
- Implementation of a reconstruction plan in Gaza.
- Border crossings for movement in and out of Gaza are reopened.
Israelis rally for and against a ceasefire deal
Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv in anticipation of a ceasefire deal, as hundreds of others marched in Jerusalem in opposition to the draft agreement currently on the table.
In Tel Aviv, Israelis sang and played music on a stage, while former captives and families of those still held in Gaza called on their government to sign the accord.
Moran Stella Yanai, who was taken captive and released in 2023 during the only ceasefire so far, said, “This is not about politics or strategy. It’s about humanity and the shared belief that no one should be left behind in darkness.”
In Jerusalem, however, Israeli hard-liners urged Netanyahu to back out of the deal and continue the war on Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.
“We are calling on the prime minister not to give into this deal… a deal that will free thousands of terrorists with blood on their hands,” an organiser from a loudspeaker, according to the ToI. “We won’t forget, we won’t forgive. You don’t have a mandate to surrender to Hamas.”
Smotrich ‘will not rest or be silent’ until Israel’s war objectives are achieved
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposes the Gaza ceasefire deal that is being negotiated, says his country is “at a crucial and fateful time”.
“What stands before me is only one thing, and I am concerned with it with all my heart and soul, and that is how to achieve the full goals of the war – complete victory, the complete destruction of Hamas …, and the return of all our hostages home,” he said on X.
“I will not rest or be silent until these goals are achieved,” Smotrich concluded.
Restoration of Israeli settlements in Gaza considered war goal by some ministers: Ex-minister
Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli war cabinet minister, says that some ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition consider the goal of the war to be the restoration of illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza.
Reacting to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s comment that the ministers have “thwarted hostage deals in the past”, Israeli Army Radio quoted Eisenkot as saying: “Ben-Gvir is telling the truth and that is why we left the government with a heavy heart because we understood that we do not intend to advance the deal.
“There are ministers for whom the goal of the war is the restoration of Jewish settlement in Gaza,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir threatened to quit Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and captives release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar. Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.
Ben-Gvir trying to persuade more far-right MPs to resign if ceasefire inked: Report
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a staunch opponent of a Gaza ceasefire deal, has launched a campaign to persuade like-minded parliament members to resign from the government if such a deal is approved.
On Monday, Ben-Gvir called on far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party, to step down in protest against the potential agreement. However, Smotrich has yet to publicly directly address his position on the prospective deal.
In recent hours, Ben-Gvir has reportedly met with or contacted several members of Smotrich’s party, urging them to support his resignation threat, with the Israeli Maariv news site describing this as an effective attempt “to orchestrate a political coup against Smotrich”.
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