January 16, 2024 - October 7 War, Day 468 

• Following months of negotiations and failed attempts, all sides reached agreement for a ceasefire deal yesterday. 
• Momentum toward an agreement had been building for weeks, with parties seeming determined to sign a deal before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20. 
• In recent days, a high-level Israeli team, led by the chiefs of the Mossad and the Shin Bet, were in Qatar for final negotiations.  President Joe Biden’s and President-Elect Trump’s top Middle East advisors were in attendance. 
• Israel’s cabinet was scheduled to meet at 11am today to approve the deal. However, earlier in the morning, the government announced that Hamas was trying to make last-minute changes to the agreement, and the Cabinet would therefore delay its vote until Hamas backed down from its new demands.  
• A Cabinet vote was to have been followed by a vote of the full government, comprising all Israeli ministers, where it is still expected to pass. The agreement does not require Knesset approval. Once the government votes, lists of Palestinian security prisoners set to be freed will be published in Israel, to enable petitions to the country’s Supreme Court against their release by families of victims, or other interested parties. The court has rejected such pleas in the past. 
• If all goes to plan, the deal will come into force this coming Sunday, January 19. 
• Despite the optimism over the imminent return of some of the hostages, many Israelis remain skeptical over numerous aspects of the deal.  
• Today, hundreds protested against the deal outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.  
• The Religious Zionism Party, as well as the Jewish Strength Party have both expressed strong opposition to the deal’s terms. 
• While these two parties will vote against the deal, most agree that they will not bring down the government over the agreement, at least in the first stage. 
• While the full text of the deal has not been released, a leaked document is believed to be real. It is also widely understood that the agreement will include the following aspects: 

• The first stage will begin on Sunday and is set to last for 42 days. 
• Thirty-three hostages will be released in this stage in a staggered manner, throughout the six-week period.  
• The first hostages will likely be let out on Sunday, with women and children first, followed by the female soldiers, then men over the age of 50 and young men who are defined as “humanitarian cases.”  
• The humanitarian cases include Avera Mengistu, held since 2014, and Hisham al-Sayed, held by Hamas since 2015. Both Israeli citizens entered the Gaza Strip while already suffering from longstanding mental health issues. 
• The 33 include four female civilians; five female soldiers; Shiri Bibas and her two small sons, Ariel and baby Kfir; 10 men aged 50 and over, and 11 sick or wounded men.