UPDATE - Israeli government starts meeting to vote on Gaza ceasefire deal

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, ADDS BACKGROUND, CHANGES DECK

​​​​​​​By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli government began a meeting Thursday to vote on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement for the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

The session opened with a security briefing by the Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, it said.

Israeli media reported that US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, entered the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after concluding talks.

The meeting follows hours of delay after an earlier Security Cabinet session ended without a vote.

The ceasefire agreement was announced at dawn on Thursday following four days of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with mediation from Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and the US.

On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan for Gaza that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.

Phase two of the plan calls for establishing a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a security force made up of Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas. It also stipulates Arab and Islamic funding for the new administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, with limited participation from the Palestinian Authority.

Arab and Muslim countries have welcomed the plan, but some officials have also said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.