Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was delaying Tel Aviv’s approval of the long-awaited ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu’s office said that his Cabinet will not meet to approve the truce deal, to pause the war in Gaza and release hostages, until Hamas steps back. Israel has accused the militant group of pulling out of parts of the agreement in a bid to achieve further modifications.
Izzat al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, said that the outfit “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators”.
Key mediator Qatar, along with US President Joe Biden, on Wednesday announced the truce deal, which is aimed at achieving the release of the hostages being held captive in Gaza and bringing a pause to the 15-month war in the Middle East region.
Earlier, Netanyahu’s office had accused Hamas of backtracking on a previous understanding that it said would give Israel a veto over which murder convicts would be released from prisons in exchange for the hostages.
However, senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri denied Israel’s backtracking allegations and said that there was “no basis” to them.
“There is no basis to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s claims about the movement backtracking from terms in the ceasefire agreement,” Abu Zuhri told AFP.
Notably, hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced, the Israeli PM had said that the deal was not complete, adding that “final details” were still being worked out.
Qatar’s prime minister also revealed that the ceasefire in Gaza will begin on Sunday, January 19, and as many as 33 Israeli hostages will be released in the first phase of the truce.
Israeli forces will also pull out from many areas and scores of Palestinians will be able to go back to their homes, the agreement said. There would also be an increase in the humanitarian assistance provided to those affected by the war.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry said that Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 48 people over the past day.
Zaher-al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told AP that the death toll could rise as hospital records are always updated.
Notably, the negotiators, Egypt, Qatar, and the US have spent the past year going back and forth to mediate an end to the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.
Hamas militants’ surprise attack on Israel in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people and resulted in around 250 persons being taken hostage. While some 100 hostages are still alive in Gaza, the Israeli military believes that around a third and up to half of them are dead.
Israel’s offensive, meanwhile, has killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said, without specifying how many militants were dead. The Israeli army claims that it has killed over 17,000 Hamas fighters.
Mediators are now expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementations of the ceasefire agreement.
Additionally, in the final weeks of the discussion on the truce deal, US President-elect Donald Trump’s Mid-East envoy also joined the talks along with that of the outgoing Biden administration.
(with AP inputs)
