Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office said earlier there were last-minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu said he would convene his security Cabinet later Friday, and then the government to approve the long-awaited hostage deal, the AP reports. Netanyahu's pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval of the deal, which would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and see dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The deal would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their homes in Gaza.
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. Israel had delayed a vote Thursday on the ceasefire, blaming a last-minute dispute with Hamas for holding up approval as rising tensions in Netanyahu's government coalition raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete. The Guardian reports Netanyahu's Friday statement did not specifically mention a ceasefire, but Hamas will not agree to release Israeli hostages without one. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in Gaza on Thursday.
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