Israel Gaza deal: What’s next after Netanyahu's cabinet meeting

3^min

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

With the announcement of the prisoner swap agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a cabinet meeting on Thursday morning, followed by a government meeting to approve the deal.

Afterward, the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons will be published, allowing Israeli petitions against them. This will complete Israel's legal procedures to implement the deal.

Sunday marks the first day of this prisoner exchange phase, which will last 42 days.

In the first week, Israeli civilian women will be released. After Israel receives the female prisoners, Palestinian prisoners will be released in return.

The military will begin phased withdrawals from Netzarim and Rafah.

In the second week, female soldiers will be released, followed by male prisoners over 50 years old and those who are ill. In the third week, negotiations will begin for the second phase of the deal.

The Israeli army began preparing for the withdrawal more than two months ago, demolishing an area around the Gaza Strip that is one kilometer wide and 60 kilometers long, creating a buffer zone to prevent Palestinians from entering. The area is reinforced with a border fence equipped with monitoring systems and sensors.

Inside Gaza, the army will gradually withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor and the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border.

According to the army’s plan, the withdrawal from Netzarim will take one week, with the area now under surveillance and equipped with infrastructure and cellular antennas.

At the Rafah crossing, the withdrawal was coordinated between Israeli, American, and Egyptian security officials in meetings that continued until Tuesday evening in Cairo.

Security services are also discussing mechanisms to monitor humanitarian goods entering the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, authorities have prepared plans and operations to prevent Palestinians from celebrating the release of their prisoners from Israeli prisons.

The army has deployed forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank, particularly in towns where the prisoners reside. The greatest challenge facing Tel Aviv is witnessing Palestinian prisoners raising victory signs.