CNN
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Israel’s government approved a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, paving the way for the agreement to take effect Sunday and potentially signalling a new chapter in a bloody 15-month conflict that has enflamed the Middle East.

The 33-member cabinet deliberated for more than seven hours into early Saturday before green-lighting the agreement, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Approved earlier by Israel’s smaller security cabinet after being thrashed out by negotiators in Doha, the deal will pause the fighting in Gaza, and lead to the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

It also offers an opportunity for humanitarian workers to shuttle much-needed aid into the battered enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving, according to the United Nations, and living conditions are dire.

Sunday’s ceasefire will be the second since the war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched an attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and injured more than 110,000 in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its figures.

Though Israel’s Supreme Court will still hear appeals by Israelis opposing freedom for any Palestinian prisoners slated for release, that process is not expected to delay the start of the ceasefire.

The deal has three phases. The first, expected to last six weeks, will see the release of 33 Israeli hostages and 735 Palestinian prisoners. Foreign hostages, including Americans, are expected to be released in addition to the 33 Israeli hostages, a source familiar told CNN Friday.

Three female Israeli civilian hostages held in Gaza are expected to be released on the first day, according to two US officials. Ninety-five Palestinian prisoners are set to be released Sunday beginning after 4 p.m. local time Sunday, Israel’s Ministry of Justice said.

Hamas and its allies still hold 94 people taken from Israel 15 months ago. At least 34 of them are dead, according to the Israeli government, though the true number is expected to be higher.

All but 10 of the 94 hostages are Israeli or dual citizens, while eight are from Thailand, one is from Nepal, and one is from Tanzania, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Negotiations for the second and third phases of the ceasefire will begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, according to an Israeli official.

A joint operations room will be established in Cairo to monitor the implementation of the deal and will include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Israel, and Palestinian officials, according to Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official.

Under the deal, humanitarian aid into Gaza will be ramped up to 600 trucks per day, a significant increase from the 614 truckloads of aid that entered Gaza in the first two weeks of January, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Hundreds of aid trucks carrying food, clothing, medical supplies and other relief materials, are lined up at the Rafah border crossing in anticipation of the deal going into effect Sunday, Al Qahera News reported. The trucks came from various areas of the Egyptian region of North Sinai, and some have been waiting for months, the news outlet said.

However, the United Nations warned Thursday the increased aid allotment would be “only a start” in addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The breakthrough in talks has inspired fresh – yet cautious – hope among the families of Israeli hostages still trapped in Gaza, many of whom do not know if their relatives are dead or alive.

“Nobody knows the fate of their loved one for sure,” Sharone Lifschitz, whose father has been held hostage in Gaza since October 7, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “If he has stayed alive, it’s a wonderful miracle.”

The start of the ceasefire Sunday will be a reprieve for Gazans who have endured 15 months of relentless Israeli strikes, which have reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

Scenes of jubilation emerged across Gaza shortly after mediator Qatar announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had come to the agreement, though Israel’s bombardment has ramped up in the days since.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 people since the ceasefire deal was announced, including 30 children, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.

The first ceasefire, in November 2023, lasted about a week. In that period, 105 hostages being held by Hamas – primarily women, children and elderly people – were released, while Israel released about 240 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

Netanyahu faced major political fallout ahead of the cabinet meeting to approve the deal, with two far-right parties threatening to quit the government if the deal went through – a move that could cause the prime minister to lose his majority in the Knesset, or parliament.

Netanyahu told his security cabinet on Friday that he received “guarantees” from negotiators that the US would back a return to war if future talks with Hamas break down, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.