By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – Israel on Saturday agreed to a cease-fire deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas that includes the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces struck a blockade before the deal took effect on Sunday.
The deal is set to end a 15-month-old war between Israel and Gaza's ruling Hamas that has devastated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destabilized the Middle East.
The war was started by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 in southern Israel where 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken, according to the Israelis. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza since then.
Earlier on Saturday, after meeting for more than six hours, the Israeli cabinet approved a cease-fire agreement to see the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in return for the majority of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
“The government has agreed to a plan for the return of the hostages. The framework for the release of the hostages will go into effect on Sunday,” Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement.
In Gaza, Israeli warplanes have maintained an offensive since the deal was agreed, and struck the area on Saturday.
Israeli tanks attacked the Zeitoun area of Gaza City and planes struck central and southern Gaza, residents said. Doctors in Gaza said five people were killed in an airstrike that hit a tent in the Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli army said since Friday it had struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who were among 50 “targeted” targets in the Gaza Strip.
At least 123 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said.
Nearly 47,000 have been killed since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
THE FIRST CAPTIVES WILL BE RELEASED ON SUNDAY
Outside of Gaza, the conflict sent shock waves across the region, starting a war with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and bringing Israel into direct conflict with Iran for the first time.
The Yemeni Houthis, also backed by Iran, since the start of the war in Gaza, have launched hundreds of attacks on what they say are cargo ships linked to Israel sailing in the Red Sea and have fired missiles at Israel, which has retaliated with airstrikes in Yemen. .
At least two missiles were fired into Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli military said, sounding air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the southern city of Eilat before they were intercepted.
In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian man stabbed and injured one person, police said, before being shot by a passerby. His condition was not immediately clear.
The Gaza ceasefire will come into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement. The White House expects three female hostages to be released from Israel this afternoon through the Red Cross.
Under the agreement, a three-phase ceasefire begins with an initial phase of six weeks when hostages held by Hamas will be replaced by prisoners and detainees in Israel.
Thirty-three of the remaining 98 Israeli captives, including women, children, men over 50 and sick and wounded captives, will be released at this stage. In return, Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
They include 737 male, female and teenage prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups involved in attacks that have killed dozens of Israelis, and hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza who have been held since the war began.
The Ministry of Justice of Israel published their details early on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, saying that 30 Palestinian prisoners were freed from their arrest and each woman was released on Sunday.
After the release of the hostages on Sunday, the leading US commander Brett McGurk said, the agreement calls for the release of four other captive women after seven days, followed by the release of three hostages every seven days.
With the deal opposed by some hardliners in the Israeli cabinet, media reports said 24 ministers in Netanyahu's coalition government voted for the deal while eight opposed it.
Opponents say the cease-fire agreement represents submission to Hamas. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it was approved and urged other ministers to vote against it. However, he said he will not bring down the government.
The Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, also threatened to quit the government if it does not return to the war to defeat Hamas after the first phase of the six-week ceasefire.