TIMES OF ISRAEL
PM’s office: Security cabinet to meet Friday, government will approve deal on Saturday
Jacob Magid
January 17, 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirms that the Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams have signed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Doha. A statement from Netanyahu’s office says the premier has convened a security cabinet meeting for Friday in order to hold a vote on the deal. The full cabinet meeting is not slated to take place until Saturday night, though, a Netanyahu spokesperson says, explaining that opponents of the deal must be given 24 hours to petition the High Court of Justice and a Friday afternoon meeting would not provide them enough time to do so because many of them are religious and observe the Sabbath. While the security cabinet is waiting for Israel’s negotiating team to return from Doha to hold the meeting, it was not clear why both the security cabinet and full cabinet could not still be convened before sundown on Friday. Holding the full cabinet meeting on Saturday means the 24-hour grace period for petition filing won’t conclude until late Sunday, meaning the deal won’t come into place until Monday — a day after originally slated. The first three hostages who were supposed to be released on Sunday will have to wait an extra day. READ MORE

JPOST Hostage deal signed by both parties in Doha , Israeli delegation heads home 98 Gaza hostages set for gradual return home after 15 months in Hamas captivity. Biden confirms American citizens will be released in first phase. The first phase of the deal will last 42 days, and implementation of the agreement will begin two or three days after its signing. The IDF will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor and all populated areas of the enclave to about 700 meters from the border, except in five specified areas, where it will be 400 meters. The IDF will reportedly reduce its presence on the Philadelphi corridor and then withdraw from it completely over the course of the first 50 days.