Ceasefire takes effect after Israeli gov't votes to approve Gaza deal

"The government has now approved the outline for the release of all the hostages - the living and the dead," the Prime Minister's office announced early on Friday morning, announcing the ceasefire which took immediate effect.

All Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit ministers voted against, except RZP’s Ofir Sofer

They have both expressed opposition largely due to the Palestinian prisoner exchange set to take place with the Israeli hostages' return.

Following the confirmation, Netanyahu shared, "We are at a momentous development. In the last two years, we've fought during these two years to achieve our war aims. And a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages. All of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we're about to achieve that.

"We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with Ron and his team, our team. That, and the courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza, had a combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas. I believe these brought us to this point.

"I want to personally thank both of you, Steve, Jared. It's been long hours. You worked around the clock, but not only worked – I think you put in your brains and your hearts. We know that it's for the benefit of Israel and the United States, for the benefit of decent people everywhere. And for the benefit of these families who will finally get to be with their loved ones. And I want to thank you on their behalf, as well as on behalf of the people of Israel. Thank you."

Kushner shared that "bringing the hostages home has been a priority for President Trump for a very, very long time, and we've all worked very tirelessly to do that. But I really want to say that this all would not have been possible without the bravery of the IDF and the soldiers, what they've accomplished not just in Gaza, but also what they've done in the theater over the last couple of years to eliminate Hezbollah in the north and really degrade them, what you were able to do in Iran. It really helped set a big tone.

"But particularly seeing the way that your citizen army... I know a lot of you, probably all of you have family, friends who were in this effort, really put your sacrifices on the line to fight for your country and to try and make a difference. I think that made a very, very big difference in there."

Finally, Witkoff concluded "The hard job was the Prime Minister's. He had the job of protecting this country. He had the job of making tough choices with regard to how tough to be with Hamas, when to be flexible, when not to be flexible. I think to myself all the time, I lost sleep over it, what would I have done in some of those circumstances There were times that I thought we should be more flexible or your country should be more flexible. But the truth is, as I look back, I don't think we’d get to this place without Prime Minister Netanyahu playing it out. Thank you.

"And I'm not just saying that. They're not just words. The president believes that. My president believes it. He believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu made some very, very difficult calls. And lesser people would not have made those calls. And here we are today because Hamas had to. They had to do this deal. The pressure was on them. They were backed up. And you've got the bigger army. You were making inroads. And that's what led to this deal."

Although Ben-Gvir said he would vote against the deal, his party is not yet planning to leave the government at this stage, his spokesperson said on Thursday.

Ben-Gvir expressed strong opposition to the release of terrorists, calling them "baby killers" and "women’s rapists." He emphasized that such individuals would never be released in the United States, acknowledging the hard work of his counterparts but insisting they wouldn't make such a compromise.

He also criticized what he saw as efforts to make peace with Hamas, stating that they seek to murder Israelis and that peace with them is impossible.

Responding to Ben-Gvir’s concerns, Witkoff shared how he forgave the drug dealer who caused the dead of his son after seeing his parents in court.

Ben-Gvir responded, “Mr. Witkoff, that’s the difference: those who murdered us on October 7th aren’t asking for forgiveness. Their families are proud of it. They want to kill Jews.”

Kushner stressed his belief that Hamas is isolated internationally and deterred from acting.

In response, Ben-Gvir questioned, “Would you have made peace with Hitler? Hamas is Hitler. They want to murder us.”

In the meeting, Kushner told the Israeli ministers that "We’ve made a deal here that isolates Hamas and encourages actors in the Arab world to pursue peace. This agreement ensures Israel’s security," he added.

"If we need to act with force, we will. It will either happen the easy way or the hard way."

“There’s a clear majority in the government to approve and support the deal,” he said.

Elaborating on why the deal is the correct move for the country, Zohar said that it should be accepted since Israel “achieved the goals it set for itself” following the Hamas attacks on October 7.

“We need to remember that Israel’s war objectives are the return of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas’s ability to control the Gaza Strip and attack Israel. These goals are being met as part of the deal,” Zohar said.

Regarding the Palestinian prisoner exchange that is expected to take place as part of the deal, Zohar said, "We need to understand there's what we'd like, and there's what's possible."

"We need to move forward with the deal, even if it comes with unpleasant prices that must be paid," since Israel has achieved its war goals, he said.

Smotrich stated on Thursday that he believes releasing Palestinian prisoners, whom he referred to as "the next generation of terror leadership," will have severe consequences.

The released prisoners are planning to "do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood," he stated.