Mediators settled the final obstacles to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas on Friday, according to the Palestinian militant group.
“Obstacles that arose due to the (Israeli) occupation’s failure to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire agreement have been resolved early this morning,” the head of Hamas’ Martyrs and Prisoners Office wing, Zaher Jabareen, said in a statement on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had said on Thursday that last-minute hurdles were still being resolved at the negotiating table in the Qatari capital of Doha before confirming later in the day that a deal had been agreed.
Remember: The first part of agreement is expected to come into effect on Sunday, following an Israeli cabinet meeting to approve the deal. In the first phase of the deal, 33 hostages held by Hamas and its allies since the October 7 attacks would be released.
Israel to release Jewish settlers held in administrative detention in response to Gaza deal
Israel will release Jewish settlers held under administrative detention in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in response to the government potentially releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire agreement, the Israeli defense minister’s spokesperson said.
“In light of the expected release of terrorists to the territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as part of the deal for the release of hostages, I have decided to release the settlers detained in administrative detention,” the spokesperson said.
Administrative detention is a controversial legal practice that is usually used by Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians in the West Bank without public charge or trial, often indefinitely and based on classified evidence that is not disclosed to the detainees. In rare instances, the practice has been applied to settlers.
Anti-Palestinian violence by extremist settlers has become a near-daily occurrence in the West Bank.
More than 500,000 Jewish settlers are living in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law. The West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, when Israel seized the area from Jordan.
In November, Katz announced that Israel would halt the use of administrative detention against Jewish settlers. At the time, the decision was welcomed by far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who are settlers themselves.