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Israel’s security council approved Wednesday’s Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, following a majority vote.
The six-week truce is set to begin on Sunday and will involve the release of 33 hostages, a welcome pause in a 15-month conflict in which 46,000 Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed.
Though the deal has now largely been approved, there are still outstanding challenges: The wider cabinet still needs to ratify the decision, though it is expected to be approved on Friday. And even if the agreement is followed to the letter, what follows it is also unclear, with the “second stage” of the truce threatening to “throw up even more obstacles than the first,” a Haaretz columnist warned.
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On Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of trying “to extort last-minute concessions” and renege on the deal, claims the group denied.
Netanyahu’s government is also under pressure from far-right allies, with two key parties “bitterly opposed to any deal,” the Financial Times reported.