Israel with Palestinian militant group Hamas that involves releasing hostages in Gaza, which is set to take effect on Sunday.
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu said the country reserves the right to resume fighting, with support from the United States, as he pledged to bring home all the held hostages.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave.
The first phase of the ceasefire deal is set to begin at 8.30am on Sunday (local time) or 5.30pm AEDT.
“As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8.30am (5.30pm AEDT) on Sunday,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said. Qatar and US mediated the deal, along with Egypt.
The three-phased agreement is set to halt a 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas that was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack, in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
Almost 47,000 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the health ministry in Gaza, including 123 killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, according to emergency services.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza.
The Israeli cabinet ratified the ceasefire deal which is meant to stop fighting and see the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in return for scores of Palestinians jailed in Israel. Its first stage will last six weeks.
‘We reserve the right to resume the war’, Netanyahu says
Netanyahu said that Israel was still waiting for a list of hostages to be released and reserved the right to resume the war, with US backing, should the second stage of the ceasefire prove futile.
“We reserve the right to resume the war if necessary, with American support,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement, a day before the ceasefire is set to take effect.
“We are thinking of all our hostages … I promise you that we will achieve all our objectives and bring back all the hostages.
“With this agreement, we will bring back 33 of our brothers and sisters, the majority (of them) alive,” he said.
Netanyahu said the first phase was a “temporary ceasefire”.
“If we are forced to resume the war, we will do so with force,” he said.
In Gaza, Israeli warplanes have kept up attacks since the deal was agreed. On Saturday, Israeli tanks shelled Gaza City and airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza, residents said.
Medics 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 military said that since Friday it had struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who were among 50 “terror targets” it hit across Gaza.
In Tel Aviv, a large clock at the so-called Hostage Square by Israel’s defence headquarters was still counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds since the hostages were taken.
Protests for their release have been held there regularly since.
Thirty-three of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages — including women, children, men over 50 and ill and wounded captives — are to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire.
In return, Israel will release approximately 2,000 Palestinians from its jails, including 737 male, female and teen-aged prisoners.
Israel’s Justice Ministry published their details early on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for each female hostage on Sunday.
The Gaza accord was opposed by some Israeli cabinet hard-liners. Far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvi said his party’s ministers will submit resignation letters on Sunday.
