Ceasefire On Track, Pandemic Preparedness, Pepsi Sued
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Israel's war cabinet gives the final approval to a deal with Hamas.
The ceasefire, only the second of the ongoing war, officially begins tomorrow. I'm Scott Simon.
I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. The latest from the region today on the podcast.
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First up today, the war in Gaza. A ceasefire is imminent. Israel's war cabinet signed off on the deal early this morning, and international mediators say it starts tomorrow morning.
It should bring about a pause in fighting, as well as the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and many more Palestinian prisoners and detainees over the next six weeks. And Piers Hadil El-Shalchi joins us from Tel Aviv. Hadil, thanks so much for being with us.
Good morning.
What else can you tell us about the agreement?
Well, we're starting to get a little bit more information about the timing of the ceasefire and what this multi-phase deal will look like in the next few weeks. Hamas and Israel have both promised to hold their fire starting at 8.30 tomorrow morning here in Israel. And then no earlier than the same afternoon, we should start seeing people be released. 33 hostages freed over this first phase for almost 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Ideal efforts have been underway for months. Why a deal now?
Well, first of all, let's remember that this deal contains much of the conditions that President Biden actually helped come up with last May. But geopolitically now, things have changed so much in the Middle East since that time. Hamas has lost a lot of its military capabilities over 15 months of war and suffered serious leadership losses, including its longtime head, Yahya Sinwar. And then Hamas's backers, also including Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, have been weakened significantly by Israel. But then there's something new. They're incoming president of Donald Trump. Trump has said all hell will break loose in the Middle East if a deal to end the war wasn't reached just before he becomes president. And that's on Monday.
And this wasn't just a warning to Hamas. It was also a call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get serious about closing a deal.
What's been reaction there so far?
Well, it is the eve of the ceasefire, and Palestinians in Gaza and Israelis are both kind of saying, we'll believe it when we see it. In Gaza, the past few days have been some of the deadliest in recent weeks. Just last night, there were Israeli airstrikes that the military said targeted Hamas weapon sites and fighters, and Gaza health officials said 122 Palestinians were killed in those strikes, including 33 children. Our producer in Gaza, Enes Baba, talked to Mohamed Aboulkas in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
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