Israel’s Cabinet yesterday voted to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The ceasefire, set to begin today, would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza’s deadliest-ever war.
It would also enable the release of hostages held in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Photo: The Israeli Government Press Office via AFP
“The government has approved the hostage return plan,” Netanyahu’s office said early yesterday morning after the Cabinet held its vote.
The Israeli Ministry of Justice has said 737 prisoners and detainees would be freed as part of the first phase of the deal — none before 4pm local time today.
Israeli strikes have killed dozens since the ceasefire deal was announced, with the Israeli military saying on Thursday it had hit about 50 targets across Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
Photo: AFP
The truce is to take effect on the eve of the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump. It was earlier approved by Israel’s security Cabinet, with Netanyahu’s office saying it “supports achieving the objectives of the war.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has completed preparations “to assume full responsibility in Gaza” after the war.
Even before the truce begins, displaced Gazans were preparing to return home.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I will go to kiss my land,” said Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp further south. “If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person.”
In Israel, there was joy, but also anguish over the remaining hostages.
Kfir Bibas, whose second birthday was yesterday, is the youngest hostage.
Hamas said in November 2023 that Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shiri had died in an air-strike, but with the Israeli military yet to confirm their deaths, many are clinging to hope.
“I think of them, these two little redheads, and I get shivers,” said 70-year-old Osnat Nyska, whose grandchildren attended nursery with the Bibas brothers.
Two far-right Israeli ministers had voiced opposition to the deal, with one threatening to quit the cabinet, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said before the vote he believed the ceasefire would proceed.
The Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of Israeli official figures.
Of the 251 people taken hostage, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,876 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
RSS