OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet Tuesday that accepting a deal for the release of hostages taken in the Hamas attacks of October 7 was “a difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.

US President Joe Biden had helped “improve the framework being laid out before you... to include more hostages at a lower price”, he told his cabinet as it met to vote on the deal.

“The entire security establishment fully supports it.” The hostages’ families have demanded that Israel should insist on the return of all those being held, and the Religious Zionist party, which is part of Netanyahu’s coalition government, has voiced opposition to the deal, denouncing it as “bad” for Israel’s security, for the hostages and soldiers.