A poll released on Friday showed that about half of Israelis believe general elections should be held after the release of prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

The poll, published by the Hebrew newspaper “Maariv,” found that 48% of Israelis think that after the completion of the prisoner release from Gaza, general elections should be held, compared to 39% opposition, while 13% said they do not know.

On the other hand, the newspaper stated that “the dramatic agreement on the first phase of the deal to end the war and return all hostages (Israeli prisoners) leads to strengthening the Likud party by two seats, and a significant weakening by three seats for the Jewish Power party opposing the agreement.”

According to the poll results, if elections were held today, Likud would win 27 seats in the Knesset (out of 120) compared to 25 last week.

The far-right Jewish Power party would get 6 seats compared to 9 seats last week.

The poll also showed that if elections were held today, the bloc supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would get 51 seats, while the opposition bloc would get 59 seats, and Arab members would hold 10 seats.

According to the Israeli system, forming a government requires the confidence of at least 61 Knesset members (parliamentarians).

Israeli opposition parties say they will not form a coalition with Arab members to form a government.

No elections are on the horizon in Israel as Netanyahu refuses elections amid the war, while the current government’s term ends at the end of next year.

Maariv reported that the poll, conducted by the private Lazar Institute, included a random sample of 500 Israelis with a margin of error of 4.4%.

Early Friday, the Israeli government approved a ceasefire agreement on the Gaza Strip and prisoner exchange with Palestinian factions, meaning the ceasefire agreement came into immediate effect, ending the more than two-year-long massacre.

According to Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, government ministers voted in favor of the agreement except for five, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The corporation noted that all ministers who opposed the deal are from the Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties, led by the extremists Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.

Early Thursday, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on the first phase of his plan for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange, after four days of indirect negotiations between the two sides in Sharm El-Sheikh, with the participation of Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar, under U.S. supervision.

Tel Aviv estimates there are 48 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive, while more than 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many killed, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

With U.S. support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 8, 2023, resulting in 67,194 martyrs and 169,890 injured, most of them children and women, and famine has claimed the lives of 460 Palestinians, including 154 children.