Jerusalem Jan. 17, 3:36 p.m.
Live Updates: Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Gaza Cease-Fire Deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged the security cabinet to approve the agreement after a day of delays. His office said the deal, which is expected to be greenlit by the full cabinet later Friday, could go into effect as early as Sunday.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release agreement on Friday, after Israeli and Hamas negotiators resolved their remaining disputes over a deal that is seen as a chance to end 15 months of war.
The vote had originally been expected on Thursday, but it was held up amid last-minute conflicts between Israel and Hamas, as well as widening rifts over the agreement inside the governing coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas said on Friday that there were no longer any barriers to the agreement.
Now that the security cabinet, a small forum of senior ministers, has approved the deal, the full cabinet of more than 30 ministers will meet later on Friday and is expected to green-light it.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Thursday that he was confident the agreement would go into effect as planned on Sunday. Qatar and Egypt mediated the cease-fire deal alongside the Biden and incoming Trump administrations.
Under the agreement, both sides will begin the cease-fire with a six-week truce during which Israeli forces will withdraw eastward, away from populated areas. Hamas will free some 33 hostages, mostly women and older people, most of whom were abducted during the group’s 2023 attack on Israel that prompted the war.
Israel will also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some serving long sentences for attacks on Israelis. After the Israeli government signs off on the deal, Israeli civilians will have a short window to file objections, but the courts are widely expected to allow the agreement to go forward.
Here’s what else to know:
Israel’s right wing: Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line national security minister, threatened to resign and remove his party from the Israeli government if the cabinet approved the cease-fire, saying that it would leave Hamas in power in Gaza. While Mr. Ben-Gvir’s threat could destabilize Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition at a critical time, it was unlikely to scuttle the cease-fire deal. Opposition lawmakers have pledged to support Mr. Netanyahu’s push for a cease-fire if more hard-line allies leave the coalition.
Biden on Netanyahu: President Biden, in his final television interview in office, which aired on MSNBC on Thursday night, defended his steadfast support for Israel throughout the conflict, but said he had pushed Mr. Netanyahu to prevent Palestinian civilian deaths.
Trump’s inauguration: President-elect Donald J. Trump, who had pressured the parties to reach an agreement before his inauguration, repeated in an interview that aired on Thursday that he wanted the deal closed before he takes office on Monday.
Attacks in Gaza: Deadly strikes have continued since the cease-fire deal was announced. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service organization, said Friday that Israeli strikes had killed more than 100 people since the announcement. That figure could not be independently verified. The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had struck about 50 targets across the Gaza Strip over the previous day, adding that “numerous steps” were taken to prevent civilian harm before the strikes.
Reporting from Tel Aviv
The Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed the security cabinet’s cease-fire approval and said he expects the full cabinet “to follow suit in swiftly affirming this decision.” As president, a largely ceremonial role, Mr. Herzog does not participate in votes on policy decisions. “I harbor no illusions — the deal will bring with it great challenges and painful, agonizing moments,” Mr. Herzog said in a statement.
Reporting from Tel Aviv
The Israeli security cabinet has recommended that the full cabinet approve the proposed cease-fire and hostage release agreement, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. A government meeting intended to grant the final approval for the deal will be convened later today, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.
Since the cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel was announced on Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes have continued across the Gaza Strip, with northern Gaza facing the heaviest attacks, emergency officials in the territory said on Friday morning.
Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency services organization, said that more than two dozen children were among those killed, and that more than 200 people were injured across the territory. The highest toll was in Gaza City, where more than 80 Palestinians had been killed, Civil Defense said.
The group’s figures could not be independently confirmed. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, said that Israeli warplanes had struck homes in northeastern Gaza City, resulting in deaths and injuries. Rescue workers and ambulance teams have been unable to reach the area to recover bodies, Wafa said.
Ahmad al-Mashharwi, who has been sheltering with more than a dozen family members in a rented house in Gaza City, described the attacks as relentless.
“The cease-fire feels meaningless,” he said in a phone interview. “Artillery and airstrikes continue around us, especially in northern Gaza.”
The cease-fire, if it goes into effect, is supposed to pave the way for more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. Mr. al-Mashharwi said that conditions in northern Gaza were dire, with prices soaring and even the most basic goods in short supply.
“We can’t afford food or clean water, and my children are going hungry,” he said. “We’ve been stripped of everything — there’s no safety, no resources, nothing to help us survive.”
Reporting from Tel Aviv
Families of the hostages held a news conference in Tel Aviv to urge the government to move forward with the deal — and make clear that Israel intends to stick with it until all the hostages have been released. “The signed agreement is a comprehensive deal in phases. Our role is to do everything to ensure the agreement is fully implemented,” said Einav Zengauker, whose son, Matan, is among the roughly 100 hostages held in Gaza. “This agreement must be followed through to the end, to bring everyone home and end the war.”
Reporting from Haifa, Israel
Hundreds of aid trucks, mostly carrying supplies provided by Egypt, are lined up in Arish, Egypt, not far from the border with Gaza, awaiting a cease-fire, according to Al Qahera News, an Egyptian state TV network. Egypt is intensifying preparations to deliver food, tents and other aid, while hospitals in Egypt are ready to treat injured people from Gaza, the network said.
Video shot from southern Israel in the early hours of Friday captured large blasts inside Gaza.
President Emmanuel Macron of France said on X that Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, two French-Israeli citizens, were on the list of 33 hostages that would be released in the first phase of the Gaza cease-fire agreement. “We are working tirelessly to ensure that their families are reunited with them,” Macron said.
Reporting from Tel Aviv
Dozens of Israelis have poured into a Tel Aviv public plaza known as Hostage Square to show their support for the deal that would see the release of dozens of Israeli hostages. Herut Nimrodi, whose son, Tamir, is among the roughly 100 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, said she had mixed feelings. Her son, a soldier, is not among those set to be released in the deal’s initial phase. “We’re happy for the other families, who fought very hard for this,” she said, “But we’re frustrated that a comprehensive hostage release deal has not been reached.”
The Israeli security cabinet has begun meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement. Israeli ministers are widely expected to approve the agreement. The security cabinet is a smaller forum of government ministers; should they vote to enact the agreement, the wider cabinet must also convene to sign off.
Despite the delays, the Israeli government just said in a statement that the cease-fire and hostage release agreement could still go into effect on Sunday, providing that Israeli ministers approve the deal. “The release of hostages can be realized according to the planned framework, under which the hostages are expected to be freed on Sunday,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
President Biden said Thursday that in the days after the war in Gaza began, he pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to prevent civilian deaths and to accommodate Palestinians’ concerns, while maintaining the United States’ firm support for Israel.
Mr. Biden spoke with the MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell in his last television interview while in office, during which he also discussed his political career and presidency. The interview, which aired Thursday night, was taped earlier in the day.
The 15-month-long war, which began after Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Most of Gaza’s roughly two million residents have been displaced at least once, and much of the enclave has been destroyed.
Mr. Biden and other leaders announced a provisional cease-fire deal on Wednesday that has raised hopes that Israel’s military assault on Gaza will come to an end. Under the deal to halt the fighting, some hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released.
The president and his advisers struggled for months to negotiate an end to the conflict. Mr. Biden, who put the cease-fire deal on the table in May, said on MSNBC that he had told Mr. Netanyahu repeatedly that “he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns” of Palestinians. He called Mr. Netanyahu a friend but said, “We don’t agree a whole lot lately.”
Critics, including some families of hostages who have pressed for a cease-fire deal, have accused Mr. Netanyahu of intentionally stalling negotiations to prolong the conflict. Mr. Biden did not directly answer when asked whether he thought Mr. Netanyahu had done so. He said that the Israeli prime minister had come under political pressure from Israel’s right-wing, and was at times forced “to do some of the things that, in my belief, I thought were counterproductive.”
To achieve the cease-fire agreement, President-elect Donald J. Trump and Mr. Biden directed their advisers to work together. Mr. Biden said in the Thursday interview that he had had no discussions with Mr. Trump about the negotiations during the past two weeks.
Mr. Biden recalled that the first time he urged Mr. Netanyahu to prevent civilian deaths was during a visit to Israel 10 days after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Mr. Biden said he told the prime minister that the United States would support Israel, but that “you can’t be carpet-bombing these communities.”
Israel’s bombing campaign has been one of the most intense in 21st-century warfare, and the country has at times used inaccurate bombs.
During the interview, Mr. Biden defended his steadfast support for Israel throughout the conflict.
“When Iran thought it was going to blow Israel off the map — they had those thousands of missiles heading their way,” he said. “Well, guess what? We didn’t let it happen.”
Israel’s security cabinet is scheduled to meet Friday morning to vote on the cease-fire deal, Israeli officials said.
President Biden, in his final television interview in office, which aired on MSNBC on Thursday night, defended his choice to steadfastly support Israel throughout the conflict, after he and his advisers struggled over many months of intense diplomatic efforts to finalize a cease-fire agreement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Israeli and Hamas negotiators had worked out their remaining differences in a Gaza cease-fire agreement. He ordered a meeting of Israel’s political security cabinet on Friday to vote on the deal, his office said in a statement.
Hundreds of far-right demonstrators blocked roads in Jerusalem on Thursday in protest of the provisional cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The demonstrators were seeking to pressure the Israeli government to reject the agreement, which would begin with a 42-day truce and the release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Israel’s cabinet must still vote on the deal, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line national security minister, threatened to resign and remove his party from the Israeli government if the cabinet voted to approve the provisional cease-fire deal.
The protesters said they supported freeing hostages, but they were worried that the agreement undermined Israel’s ability to remove Hamas from power in Gaza.
“I feel betrayed by the state of Israel,” said Efrat Ashkenazi-Hershkovitz, 50, whose brother died fighting in Gaza. “This deal will free people with blood on their hands,” she added, referring to the Palestinian prisoners expected to be released by Israel under the agreement.
For hours, the demonstrators, some teenagers, disrupted traffic in Jerusalem. They threw rocks onto highways, and clashed with police officers attempting to clear them.
In the evening, a few hundred demonstrators gathered at a central junction near the Israeli parliament, where they displayed an exhibition of cardboard coffins draped in Israeli flags.
One demonstrator, Eliav Turjman, a rabbi from Yeruham, Israel, said the Hostages Families Forum — the lobby representing the families of the hostages that has pushed for a cease-fire and hostage release deal — “appealed to Israelis’ hearts instead of their reason, which would dictate that we should occupy Gaza and expel its residents.”
Reporting from Washington
transcript
‘Why Aren’t You in the Hague’: Blinken Heckled at News Conference
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heckled as he delivered remarks about the Gaza cease-fire deal.
“Finally, I just wanted to share this morning —” Off-camera: “Get your hands off me. Get your hands off me. Get your hands off me. Answer a damn question.” “I look forward to answering questions in a few minutes.” “Do you know about Israel’s nuclear weapons? Everybody from the I.C.J. — I was sitting here quietly, and now I’m being manhandled by two or three people. You’re pontificating about a free press. You pontificate about a free press. You’re hurting me. You are hurting me. You are hurting me. I am asking questions after being told by Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions until I’m —” “Please, sir, respect the respect the process. We’ll have an opportunity to take questions in a few minutes.” “What‘s the point of the May 31 statement to block the I.C.J. orders? You blocked the I.C.J. orders.” “Please, sir, respect the process. Thank you.” “Respect the process. Respect the process while everybody, everybody from Amnesty International, from Amnesty International to the I.C.J. saying that Israel is doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to respect the process. Criminal — why aren’t you in The Hague? Why aren’t you in The Hague? Why aren’t you in The Hague?”
In a dramatic show of the anger over American support for Israel’s war in Gaza, a farewell news conference by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was interrupted by two pro-Palestinian journalists who accused him of enabling “genocide.”
One shouted, “Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?” as security officers carried him from the State Department briefing room.
Another reporter was ejected from the room at the start of a rare appearance there by Mr. Blinken, who had come to summarize his four-year tenure and take final questions from reporters.
At the news conference, Mr. Blinken said that, despite reports of last-minute snags, he was “confident” that the cease-fire deal reached this week by Hamas and Israel would begin to be carried out on Sunday as planned.
Mr. Blinken otherwise covered largely familiar subject matter as he fielded questions largely focused on criticism of the Biden administration’s continued supply of weapons to Israel as Palestinian casualties mounted, with Mr. Blinken noting that Hamas embedded itself among civilians. “Some people say we did too much to restrain Israel,” he said. “Others say we did too much to enable.”
But the news conference was most memorable for the outbursts that punctured Mr. Blinken’s opening remarks, the likes of which, Aaron David Miller, a former longtime diplomat, said on X he had never seen.
The man picked up from his seat and carried away by several security officers was Sam Husseini, who identifies himself online as “an independent journalist and writer who has been piercing through the establishment’s falsifications for 25 years” and is known for his confrontational questions at department briefings.
The other reporter was Max Blumenthal, a prominent left-wing journalist and fierce critic of Israeli policies, who asked Mr. Blinken, “How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?”
Then, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, he added, “You waved the white flag before Netanyahu!”
Such invective is by now all too familiar to Mr. Blinken, who most recently was shouted down and called a war criminal by protesters during remarks he gave on Gaza at a Washington think tank this week. In each case Mr. Blinken was largely unfazed, and continued his remarks once calm had returned to the room.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment