Day 470 - 3 hostages set to come home Sunday under truce with Hamas

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute
audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and
the Jewish world.


Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda
Borschel-Dan for today's episode.


The Prime Minister’s Office issued a brief statement after 1 a.m.
Saturday morning confirming the government approved the hostage
release-ceasefire deal after meeting for more than seven hours.
Twenty-four ministers voted in favor of the deal and eight
opposed. The deal should enter into force on Sunday at 8:30 am
and the first three Israeli hostages are to be freed at 4
pm. In sum, 33 hostages are to be freed in the first,
42-day phase of the deal. Horovitz speaks about the political
dramas and what we know about the implementation of the deal and
who is on the first-phase list.


Israel is set to release up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and
detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for
deadly terror attacks and murder. The Justice Ministry has, as of
Saturday, published the names of 735 Palestinian prisoners to
allow petitions against their release to be submitted to the High
Court. We hear some of the complexities around the
prisoner-release portion of the truce deal and who is not
currently going to be freed.


We speak about the mood of the country after the deal was finally
ratified. How are families whose loved ones were killed in battle
in Gaza feeling as Hamas and Hezbollah cry victory and vow to
ramp up their "resistance" to Israel in the near future.


For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s
ongoing live blog.


Discussed articles include:


Israeli government approves hostage-ceasefire agreement
with Hamas


Israel to free up to 1,904 Palestinians in 1st stage of
hostage deal, including killers


These are the 33 hostages set to be returned in phase one
of the Gaza ceasefire


Guidelines for hospitals set to receive hostages include
STD checks, pregnancy tests


IDF intercepts missile from Yemen in 4th Houthi attack
this week, no injuries


Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your
podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.


IMAGE: A woman pauses near posters of hostages held by Hamas in
the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, as Israel's security cabinet
convened to decide whether to approve a deal that would release
dozens of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and pause the
15-month-war, January 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.