Ceasefire Agreement Progresses

After a very long meeting of the full Cabinet, Israel accepted the ceasefire agreement reached with Hamas. It will come into effect on Sunday at 8:30 am local time – as confirmed by the Qataris and the Israel Defence Forces on Saturday.

Some hours later, the first three Israeli hostages will be freed, as will the first group of Palestinian prisoners.

Various ministries in Israel are making preparations to receive the hostages. The Health Ministry has published the medical protocol that will be followed, describing treatment, stages of care, and the long-term support to be given.

A minimum hospital stay of at least four days is recommended for each hostage, but decisions will be made on each individual case in agreement with the hostages and their families.

It looks as if there are many further details to arrange, and difficulties that will need to be overcome, with the whole of the agreement.

This short update from France 24 covers the arrangements for the release of the first hostages on Sunday, and then covers details of arrangements for the rest of phase one of the agreement.