The Israeli Cabinet on Saturday morning approved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, Al Jazeera reported.

The agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas will pause the conflict that started 15 months ago.

“The government has approved the framework for the return of the hostages,” the Israeli prime minister’s office was quoted as saying. “The framework for the hostages’ release will come into effect on Sunday.”

While 24 Cabinet ministers voted in favour of the agreement, eight voted against the proposal, the Times of Israel reported.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, opposed the deal, saying that he was “horrified” by its details. In particular, he objected to the release of “life-sentenced terrorists” in exchange for the hostages, BBC reported.

The separate Israeli Security Cabinet, which specifically deals with foreign and defence policy matters, had voted in favour of the deal on Friday.

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, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had 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”.

Since the ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday, at least 116 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged territory of Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.

Under the approved deal, the three-phase ceasefire will take effect on Sunday. The first six-week phase reportedly involves the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for 737 Palestinian detainees.

This phase will also see the Israeli military withdrawing from all populated areas of Gaza and several hundred lorries with humanitarian aid being allowed into the besieged territory.

Negotiations for the second phase are scheduled to begin on the 16th day. This aims for a “permanent end to the war”. It would also include the release of the remaining hostages, including men, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The second phase also entails the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gazan territory.

The third and final phase would include the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of any remaining bodies of the hostages.

Israel’s military offensive against Gaza began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas launched an incursion into southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then, killing more than 47,500 persons, including over 17,400 children.

Some of the hostages were released in November 2023 as part of a brief ceasefire deal and some were killed as a result of the war.

Several unsuccessful rounds of talks for a ceasefire have been held since late 2023. Fresh negotiations took place in Doha to sign the deal before Donald Trump takes office as the United States president on January 20. Besides Qatar, the talks are being mediated by neighbouring Egypt and the United States’ Joe Biden administration.

Also read: Israel-Hamas ceasefire will not end war or bring peace