The Israeli government approved the hostage and ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and Hamas after seven hours of negotiations.
The government approved the deal just after 1:00 a.m. on Saturday in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported. Twenty-four ministers voted in favor of the deal, and eight voted against it. Among the latter camp was National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who earlier threatened to quit the government if the deal was approved, calling it “the end of the war before Hamas is beaten.”
The deal comes after over a year of negotiations that failed to take hold until president-elect Donald Trump included his envoys in the talks after threatening that there would be “all hell to pay” if the hostages were not released by the time he takes office on January 20.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly invoked Trump’s imminent inauguration during discussions Friday, telling ministers that the president-elect would fully support Israel and unfreeze weapons shipments to the Jewish state. Netanyahu also blamed Hamas for any holdup in the ceasefire negotiations up to this point.
“There was no deal on the table because Hamas opposed any deal,” Netanyahu said. “However, the situation changed because of the heroism of our fighters and because of our actions in the region, including our severe blow to the Iranian axis. Hamas remained isolated in this theater, and as a result, it folded and agreed to this deal.” […]
— Read More: www.dailywire.com