Israeli cabinet approves deal for pause in fighting – as it happened

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it stands in solidarity with health workers at al-Awda hospital in north Gaza after three doctors and “a patient companion” were reportedly killed in an attack on the facility.

Many other people were reportedly injured, the WHO said in a statement. The hospital also sustained “substantial” damages, it said, adding:

WHO has documented 178 health attacks in the Gaza Strip that have resulted in 553 fatalities and 696 casualties, including 22 fatalities and 48 injuries of health care workers on duty.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) earlier today said it was “horrified” by the killing of two of its doctors and a third doctor following what it said was a strike on al-Awda.

Qatar is awaiting the result of the Israeli government’s vote on the hostage deal, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Majid al-Ansari told CNN that the proposal for a humanitarian pause and the release of hostages was delivered to the Israeli side in the early hours of Tuesday, after weeks of continuous negotiations.

The proposed deal includes the International Committee of the Red Cross visits to hostages from Israel still being held in Gaza, and medical assistance for those who need it, Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told his ministers.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been addressing his ministers during a meeting of the government to discuss the hostage deal.

Israel will continue its war against Hamas even if a temporary ceasefire is reached to release hostages, the Israeli prime minister said in a televised video statement, AP reported.

“We are at war, and we will continue the war,” he said.

We will continue until we achieve all our goals.

The full Israeli cabinet is now meeting to discuss a potential hostage deal, following meetings of the war cabinet and the security cabinet.

Israel is telling its ministers that the International Committee of the Red Cross will be allowed to visit unreleased hostages in Gaza and provide medical assistance as part of a possible hostage deal.

From the UK’s Channel 4 foreign correspondent Paraic O’Brien:

Israel’s full 38-minister cabinet is meeting on the possible hostage release deal, following earlier meetings with Israel’s war cabinet and security cabinet.

At least 14,128 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the government in the occupied territories.

The latest death toll update includes at least 5,600 children and 3,550 women, it said.

Israel’s full 38-minister cabinet is now meeting to discuss the hostage release deal, Israeli media is reporting.

The meeting of the coalition follows a meeting of the war cabinet and the security cabinet. No vote was held in the earlier meetings, Channel 12 in Israel reported.

It’s 9.15pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting his most senior ministers on Tuesday evening amid strong indications his government is due to approve a deal for the release of some of the more than 240 mostly Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister’s office said that “in light of developments in the matter of the release of our hostages” Israel’s war cabinet would be convened followed by meetings of his wider security cabinet and the full cabinet.

• Ismail Haniyeh, the most senior political leader of Hamas, said a truce agreement with Israel was near. “We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Haniyeh said on Tuesday, adding that the group had delivered its response to Qatari mediators. Joe Biden has also said a deal was “very close”.

• A potential deal could result in 50 hostages, all women or children, being freed in exchange for the return of 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, also all women or children, according to Israeli media reports. The deal would also reportedly result in a pause in hostilities for at least five days; restrictions on Israeli surveillance of Gaza; and additional aid sent into the territory. The Israeli government is expected to have a majority in the cabinet to approve a hostage deal, despite opposition from the far-right parties.

• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have said two of its doctors and a third health ministry doctor have been killed following what it said was a strike on al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said three doctors were killed in what it said was an Israeli strike on al-Awda, one of the last remaining functional hospitals in northern Gaza.

• The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said he is “devastated” that a colleague had been killed in Gaza. Dima Alhaj was “tragically killed alongside her six-month-old baby, her husband and two brothers”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted to social media on Tuesday. A WHO spokesperson said on Tuesday that three hospitals in Gaza had requested help with evacuating patients and that planning had started.

• The UN has warned that a “tragic … entirely avoidable surge” in child deaths is expected in Gaza, where on average a child is killed every 10 minutes. The UN children’s agency (Unicef) said the number of children dying could skyrocket due to the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the besieged Palestinian territory.

• The Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha has been released after he was detained by Israeli forces along with scores of other Palestinian men trying to leave northern Gaza, according to his friends and Israeli officials.

• At least 52 journalists and media workers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). On Tuesday, a Hezbollah-affiliated news channel said two of its journalists were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the south of Lebanon, near the boundary with Israel.

• The European Commission has said it will continue to provide financial aid to Palestinians after an investigation found no evidence that the money was going to Hamas. The EU is the world’s biggest provider of assistance to Palestinians, with almost €1.2bn earmarked for 2021-2024.

• Britain has deployed an extra 1,000 military personnel around the Middle East since Hamas’s deadly 7 October attack on Israel junior defense minister James Heappey said on Monday in a parliamentary answer, revising upwards the deployment to the region.

• The Scottish Labour party have formally backed demands for a full ceasefire in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Anas Sarwar supported a motion put forward by Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, on Tuesday calling for an immediate truce, widening the Labour party’s divisions on the conflict.

• South African lawmakers have voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in South Africa and suspending all diplomatic relations with Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. Meanwhile, the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in Gaza as he chaired an extraordinary summit of the Brics group on Tuesday.

The White House has said it is hopeful about a hostage deal and believes that Israel and Hamas are getting closer to an agreement.

The US national security council spokesperson John Kirby, at a press briefing on Tuesday, said:

We are closer than we’ve been. We believe we’re getting closer.

We won’t say and do not want to say anything in these delicate hours that could put a deal at greater risk.

Earlier today, Joe Biden said a deal is “very close” to bringing home some of the hostages held in Gaza.

The hostages who are expected to be released if a deal is reached will include 30 children, eight mothers and 12 women, Haaretz is reporting.

The hostages who are expected to be released will mostly be children, according to a separate CNN report, citing a source.

A majority in the cabinet of the Israeli government will approve a hostage deal, despite opposition from the far-right parties Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit, the Times of Israel reported.

The war cabinet supports the deal and will rally 19 votes held by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and five votes held by Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, it reported.

The Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit together hold six cabinet votes, it writes.