Israel says first hostages expected to be released from Gaza on January 19

The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the process of releasing Israeli hostages in Gaza will begin on Sunday, provided a ceasefire agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas takes effect.

The statement by Netanyahu’s office came amid reports of last-minute problems in finalising a ceasefire to the conflict that started 15 months ago.

“Pending approval by the Security Cabinet and the Government, and the agreement taking effect, the release of the hostages will be implemented according to the planned framework in which the hostages are expected to be released on Sunday,” a statement by the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

A meeting of the Security Cabinet was underway on Friday to decide on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

On Wednesday, Qatar announced that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. Doha was the key mediator in the negotiations.

A day later, however, Netanyahu said that his Cabinet would not meet on Thursday to ratify the agreement, accusing Hamas of backtracking on parts of the deal.

Hamas denied the claims, with senior official Izzat al-Rishq stating that the group was “committed to the ceasefire agreement”.

Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Gaza since the ceasefire deal was announced. At least 113 persons have been killed since the ceasefire was announced, Al Jazeera quoted civil defence officials in...

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