Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says a “deal to release the hostages” has been agreed.
Netanyahu delayed a cabinet vote to approve a ceasefire deal in Gaza on Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking last-minute changes to the deal.
On Friday morning, his office said that Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached in this agreement.
He ordered the political security cabinet to meet later on Friday and the government “will then meet to approve the deal,” Netanyahu’s office said. The families of the kidnappers have been informed, it added.
Representatives of Israel, Hamas, the United States, and Qatar officially signed the agreement in Doha, Israeli media reported.
The ceasefire agreement was first announced on Wednesday by US and Qatari mediators.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement will come into force on Sunday, pending the approval of the Israeli cabinet.
At the time, Netanyahu said the final details of the deal were still being worked out, but thanked Biden for “encouraging” it.
Netanyahu then delayed a cabinet vote to approve the deal on Thursday, accusing Hamas of trying to “squeeze approval at the last minute”.
Hamas has said it is committed to the deal, but the BBC understands that it was trying to include some of its members on the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the deal.
Although Israeli negotiators have agreed to the deal, which follows months of negotiations, it will not be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and the government.
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