Security cabinet recommends hostage release-ceasefire deal; full cabinet about to convene

The security cabinet recommends the hostage release-ceasefire deal agreed to last night in Doha, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
The deal will now move to the full cabinet for a discussion starting in the next few minutes and a subsequent vote. The meeting seems certain to continue into Shabbat, which begins shortly. The full cabinet is expected to approve the deal by a large majority.
The security cabinet recommendation was made “after examining all diplomatic, security and humanitarian” aspects of the agreement, with the understanding that the deal “supports the achievement of the war’s goals,” the PMO says.
The PMO does not reveal who voted to support the move, but Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party have both said they would not back the deal.
Earlier, the government said that the plan will still be implemented as of Sunday despite the bureaucratic delays, which means the High Court will still need to hold a hearing into petitions against the agreement, though it is not expected to intervene.
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who returned from Qatar along with Mossad chief David Barnea following the signing of the deal there overnight, reportedly urged ministers to approve the deal as soon as possible, warning that any delay risked endangering hostages’ lives.
In the course of the security cabinet meeting, according to unconfirmed Hebrew media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers that Israel has “received “definitive guarantees” from both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, that “if the negotiations on phase two of the deal fail, and Hamas does not accept our security demands, we will resume intensive fighting with the backing of the United States.”
In a statement last night, following far-right Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir’s threat to bolt the coalition over the deal, Netanyahu’s Likud party made the same assertion and others regarding the deal.
“Contrary to Ben Gvir’s comments, the existing deal allows Israel to return to fighting under American guarantees, receive the weapons and means of warfare it needs, maximize the number of living hostages that will be released, maintain full control of the Philadelphi Route [on the Egyptian border] and the security buffer that surrounds the entire Gaza Strip, and achieve dramatic security achievements that will ensure Israel’s security for generations,” Likud said.