Qatar’s foreign ministry said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT (1:30 a.m. EST) on Sunday.
The ceasefire will pause the fighting after 15 months of war and see the release of dozens of hostages held by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israel's Cabinet approved the deal early on Saturday; the ceasefire will see the first hostages released.
Brokered by mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt in months of indirect talks between the warring sides, the ceasefire is the second truce achieved in the devastating conflict.
Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Family of the youngest remaining hostage mark his second birthday in captivity
TEL AVIV, Israel — The family of Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, marked his second birthday on Saturday, a day before a ceasefire is expected to go into effect.
Kfir was less than nine months old when he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his brother Ariel, now 5, and parents Shiri and Yarden Bibas. It is unknown if the family is still alive.
In December 2023, Hamas claimed that Shiri Bibas and her two sons had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza. Yarden Bibas, who was kidnapped separately, was filmed being informed of their deaths. Israel dismissed the Hamas claim and said the video of Yarden Bibas was “psychological terror,” but there have been no signs of the family since.
Kfir, with red hair and a toothless smile, has been in captivity for almost two thirds of his life and has become a symbol across Israel for the helplessness and anger over the hostages’ plight.
“In our worst nightmares, we never thought we would reach this day,” Yifat Zailer, the cousin of Shiri Bibas, said earlier this week.
Last year on his birthday, the family marked what they called “ the saddest birthday in the world.” This year on his birthday, the family commissioned copies of the pink elephant Kfir is clutching in his hands in the famous hostage photo that has been posted around the world, in hopes that when he comes home they will be able to bring him his favorite toy.
The entire Bibas family is expected to be released in the first six weeks of the ceasefire, according to lists obtained by the Associated Press. In the first stage, 33 hostages will be released in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, though it is unclear how many of the 33 hostages are still alive.