1 / 8Despite opposition by some far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Israel’s full cabinet approved a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. This would include a six-week pause on hostilities starting Sunday (January 19), a day before Donald Trump takes oath again as the US President. A man plays a harp near images of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
2 / 8The deal also includes an increase in humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Many of the about 98 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are dead. 33 of them will be gradually released under the deal. In return, Israeli army will withdraw from the Gaza strip and release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel will release 735 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase, according to a CNN report. Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, before a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel takes effect, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled.
3 / 8Hamas will release 3 female Israeli civilian hostages on Sunday, according to two US officials. The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners (70 females and 25 males, including 10 teenagers) to be released on the first day of the truce in exchange for Israeli hostages. A woman and a child walk past a graffiti at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen.
4 / 8The names are meant to give people the chance to appeal to the High Court of Justice against the release of specific prisoners, according to a Bloomberg report. Israel can’t release anyone before 4 p.m. local time on Sunday, according to the ministry’s statement. FILE – Relatives of hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters gather outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)
5 / 8The agreement was mediated by Qatar and Egypt. There will be an operation room set up in Cairo to monitor the progress and compliance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. In the picture, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the foreign ministry headquarters in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
6 / 8American officials were reportedly involved despite being from direct contact with Hamas by US law. The deal envisions further negotiations between the two sides to end the war that began in October 2023, though those terms are yet to be negotiated. Israeli National Security Minister and head of Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir is flanked by members of his party as he gives a statement to members of the press, ahead of a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, January 16, 2025. REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
7 / 8Hamas invaded Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an intense air and ground war that has devastated the enclave and killed over 46,000 people, the Hamas-run health ministry says, without differentiating between combatants and civilians. According to Israel, the Palestinian death toll includes almost 20,000 fighters, mostly from Hamas. Protesters, predominantly Houthi supporters, demonstrate in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as Israel kept up strikes on the enclave following the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that is expected to take effect on Sunday, in Sanaa, Yemen January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
8 / 8Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 117 people and injured over 266 others since the ceasefire deal was announced Wednesday, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense said on Friday. Of those killed, 30 are children, according to spokesperson Mahmoud Basal. Most of the dead were killed in Gaza City. Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, before a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel takes effect, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
