IDF readies to receive hostages returning from Gaza

The Israeli government approved the hostage deal at 1 a.m. on Saturday after over seven hours of debate, Walla reported.

Twenty-four ministers voted in favor, and eight ministers voted against.

Hamas has made new last-minute demands regarding the Philadelphi corridor, a senior Israeli political source told The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli negotiating team was recently informed that Hamas decided at the last minute to make new demands - this time regarding the Philadelphi corridor, in contrast to the maps that have already been approved by the cabinet and American mediators.

Israel strongly opposes any changes to these maps, they said.

The Defense Ministry and the IDF have received instructions to prepare for the implementation of the hostage deal in the Gaza Strip.

These include troops in the Gaza Strip, on the border, and on the home front, as well as the organization of medical personnel and the Air Force.

This is a developing story.

Qatar's Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, will hold a press conference on Wednesday evening.

The press conference is expected to address the ongoing hostage deal talks.

This is a developing story.

Hamas has given the green light to go ahead with the hostage deal, with attempts to reach a final deal expected by Wednesday night or Thursday, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested that soldiers be added to the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of a hostage deal, a Palestinian source told the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Wednesday.

According to the report, the source qualified this attempt as an attempt to "rig the agreement and obstruct it."

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday said hopefully we will close out Gaza hostage deal this week.

Additionally, he said Iran was at its weakest point since the country's 1979 revolution, and its weakness was a concern as it may push the country to rethink its nuclear weapons posture.

Sullivan was speaking alongside incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz at a handover event.

The current deal on the table is not the same deal that was proposed on May 27, an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

This comes after a tweet by Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs that said, "This deal is the same deal that was on the table on May 27."

"This is not the same deal - but a deal whose basis is the May 27 deal," the source clarified.

According to the source, key differences between the two deals include the fact that the proposed number of hostages who will be released is higher than in May.

Additionally, In May, Hamas refused to enter into a deal if Israel did not commit to ending the war, as well as insisting that Israel withdraw from Philadelphi and the perimeter, neither of which are requirements anymore.

In the hours before the expected ceasefire announcement in Doha, Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his final foreign policy speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., saying, "We await final word from Hamas on its acceptance, and until we get that word, we'll remain on the brink."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an address at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday that a reformed Palestinian Authority would lead Gaza under the plan and would invite international partners to help establish and run an interim administration for the enclave.

“Israelis must abandon the myth that they can carry out de facto annexation without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its standing, and to its security,” Blinken said.