Middle East latest: Israeli security cabinet recommends approving ceasefire deal

Israel’s offensive has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

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Here’s the latest:

Israeli security cabinet recommends approval of ceasefire for Gaza; deal now goes to full cabinet

JERUSALEM — Israel’s security cabinet has recommended approving a deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants.

The deal will now go to the full cabinet for approval before the ceasefire goes into effect. The prime minister’s office said that if a deal is passed, the ceasefire could start Sunday with the first hostages released.

The vote came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. However, a pre-dawn statement Friday appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval for the deal.

The deal would pause the fighting and see dozens of hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their homes in Gaza.

UN chief Guterres says Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territories

BEIRUT — The U.N. chief says Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territories and stop conducting military operations inside Lebanon that violate the U.N. Security Council resolution that halted the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made his comments Friday during a visit to the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon near the border with Israel.

Speaking about military operations by Israeli troops inside Lebanon since a 60-day truce went into effect on Nov. 27, Guterres said: “They must stop.”

Guterres said the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL has uncovered over 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since the ceasefire.

He reiterated that Lebanese government forces as well as U.N. peacekeepers are the only sides who should have armed presence south of the Litani river near the border with Israel. He said the presence of other forces, an apparent reference to Hezbollah, “undermine Lebanon’s stability.”

Medical staff in Israel prepare for hostages’ return

TEL AVIV — As Israel prepares for the return of hostages, medical staff say they’re concerned about how long people have been in captivity.

Six hospitals throughout the country are preparing to receive the hostages. “Our main concern is the long time … they are probably held in very very bad conditions, lack of nutrition, lack of hygiene,” said Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the medical directorate at Israel’s health ministry.

Around 100 hostages, a mix of civilians and soldiers, remain captive inside Gaza. They include around a dozen foreign nationals from Thailand, Nepal and Tanzania. The military believes at least a third of the remaining hostages — and up to half of them — are dead.

Under phase one of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are set to be released as early as Sunday.

Dr. Mizrahi said staff are also preparing to assist people with their mental health and have had training sessions on how to deal with the various situations that could impact the hostages.

Meanwhile families and friends of the hostages are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to return.

In a Tel Aviv square now known as Hostages Square because it’s become a gathering place for families and supporters, dozens of people gathered Friday to hear the families speak, chanting “you are not alone!”

“I’m really happy, but it also breaks my heart, because it’s already been 15 months,” said Yael Danieli, a 60-year-old real estate agent from Tel Aviv who has been active in the campaign to return the hostages.

WHO official: Not finalizing ceasefire deal would be devastating for humanitarian efforts

GENEVA — The top World Health Organization official for Palestinian areas says any failure to finalize a Gaza ceasefire would be “utterly devastating” and crimp humanitarian efforts for the war-ravaged territory.

Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for Occupied Palestinian Territories, said that thousands of trucks are waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt, as well as from Jordan and elsewhere.

Under the ceasefire agreement — which is awaiting approval from Israel’s security cabinet and government — aid entry to Gaza is to be ramped up to hundreds of trucks a day of food, medicine, supplies and fuel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is far more than Israel has allowed in throughout the war.

Just 40 to 50 aid trucks a day have entered the territory in recent weeks.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva by video from Jerusalem, Peeperkorn said an influx of aid could help to rebuild electricity, water, waste management systems and other infrastructure that have been damaged in more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.

Peeperkorn cited a need for generator parts and generator oil that have not been allowed into Gaza.

He said it was his “assumption” that the three phases of the ceasefire process would take place in Gaza, and “it would be it would be utterly devastating if it is not going to happen.”

Macron: 2 French-Israeli nationals will be among first hostages to be released under deal

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron says that French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

“We are working tirelessly to ensure they are reunited with their families,” he said in a message on X.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday, 33 of some 100 hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The agreement has not yet been approved by Israel’s security cabinet and government.

Macron was on a visit to neighbouring Lebanon on Friday, where he was to meet the crisis-hit country’s newly elected leaders, as the nation attempts to recover from the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Israel’s security cabinet meets to decide on ceasefire deal

JERUSALUM — Israel’s security cabinet convened Friday to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war.

If the cabinet approves, the deal will then go to the government for final sign-off before the ceasefire goes into effect.

On Wednesday U.S. President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal, which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down the war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

Friday’s meeting comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing the agreement. Israel had delayed a security cabinet vote Thursday, blaming the dispute with Hamas for holding up approval. However, a pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for the deal to be voted on by the security cabinet.

Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and that their families were informed the deal had been reached. The Prime Minister’s office said that if a deal is passed, the ceasefire could start Sunday with the first hostages released.

Netanyahu says Israeli officials have reached a deal to return hostages after last-minute snags

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Friday that a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached.

The announcement came a day after Netanyahu’s office said there were last minute snags in talks to free hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu said he will convene his security Cabinet on Friday and then the government to approve the ceasefire agreement.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Middle East latest: Israeli security cabinet recommends approving ceasefire deal

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