Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his cabinet would not meet to vote on a cease-fire agreement aimed at suspending the war in Gaza until “Hamas accepts all elements of the agreement,” a move that would leave the brutal 15 It threatens to undermine months of work to end the brutal months-long conflict. Conflict.
The unexpected delay has raised concerns that the deal could still be scrapped by last-minute disagreements between Israel and Hamas or by hardline opponents, but U.S. officials say the hard-won deal could still be scrapped. He insisted that the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday as planned.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a State Department briefing that he was “very confident” the ceasefire would proceed, adding: “As we have said, we fully expect implementation to begin on Sunday. “
The announcement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Thursday morning came ahead of schedule. A wide-ranging government meeting was held in Qatar's capital Doha on Wednesday night in which the security cabinet and ministers are expected to ratify the agreement.
According to Israeli media, the vote is expected to take place on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, “Hamas has broken part of the agreement reached between the mediator and Israel in order to force last-minute concessions,'' and that the situation has created a “last-minute crisis.'' added.
Izzat el-Reshik, a senior Hamas official, said on the group's Telegram channel minutes after Israel's announcement that Hamas was complying with the ceasefire agreement. Israeli media reported Thursday night, citing unnamed government officials, that the differences had been resolved.
Prime Minister Blinken did not specify the nature of the dispute, but said complex negotiations involving Israel and Hamas, as well as mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt, had “no final settlement” between the two sides. ” he admitted.
“We are resolving the impasse as we speak,” he said, adding that he had been on the phone throughout the morning and had spoken directly with senior US envoy Brett McGuirk and the Qatari government.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that while there were “some implementation details that still need to be worked out,” the United States was “confident we can begin implementation on Sunday.” .
Netanyahu's hardline national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, announced Thursday night that he would resign from the government if the Gaza ceasefire agreement is ratified.
Ben Gvir called the hostage cease-fire agreement “irresponsible” and “reckless” and said accepting it would “undo the gains of the war” by liberating Palestinian militants and ceding territory in Gaza.
But while this threat is a blow to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ben Gvir's resignation will not bring down his government.
Fighting continues in Gaza despite hopes of a ceasefire, which is believed to take effect on Sunday. At least 77 people were killed and 230 injured in Israeli airstrikes that hit several areas of the Palestinian territories overnight, the Civil Defense Agency said on Thursday.
The Israeli military said it had attacked about 50 militant targets across the Gaza Strip in the past day, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launch sites.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not initially say which parts of the deal had hit a roadblock, but later on Thursday Hamas agreed to release a certain number of prisoners classified as mass murderers and considered “symbols of terrorism.” announced that it has lodged an objection with the Israeli authorities, who have exercised their right to veto it.
Israel's Can Radio reported on Thursday that the issue was linked to far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich's opposition to the deal. Smotrich has been highly critical of the previously proposed deal with Hamas, which would be ratified by a majority of ministers without the support of the finance minister or fellow hardliner Itamar Ben Gvir. It was expected.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Ben Gvir to join forces and pull his own party out of the coalition government if a deal is reached, potentially leading to its collapse. He met with Prime Minister Smotrich.
According to Israeli television reports, Mr. Smotrich told Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel would return to the fight if Hamas managed to maintain control of Gaza, and that the amount of humanitarian aid would be allowed to flow into the area. He reportedly presented a list of conditions for support, including a pledge to impose strict restrictions. .
On Thursday, Smotrich's Religious Zionist party said in a statement that a condition of remaining in power is a return to combat after the end of the first phase of the deal to destroy Hamas and bring back all the hostages.
Israeli media widely reported this week that the government was prepared to resume hostilities after the end of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, during which the hostages are expected to be released.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Prime Minister Netanyahu's chief of staff Yossi Fuchs said on Wednesday that the deal included “the option of resuming fighting after the first phase ends if the second phase of negotiations does not progress as promised. It includes,” he said. Achieving the goals of the war: the military and civilian annihilation of Hamas and the release of all hostages. ”
The deal, finalized in Doha by negotiators from the United States, Israel, Egypt and Qatar after weeks of talks, largely follows the contours of a cease-fire agreement first struck in May last year. President Joe Biden has presented the deal as a foundational accomplishment of his administration, calling it the result of “persistent and painstaking American diplomacy.”
In the first phase, which lasted 42 days, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, including female soldiers, and hostages over 50 years old. In return, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli female soldier. 30 Hamas and other hostages.
Displaced Palestinians will be able to move freely through the Gaza Strip, which Israel has divided in half with a military corridor. The injured are to be evacuated abroad for treatment, and aid to the region needs to be increased to 600 trucks per day, but this is a huge relief to stop Gaza's devastating humanitarian crisis. This exceeds the minimum number of 500 units required by the institution.
The second phase would involve the repatriation of the remaining surviving hostages, the release of a corresponding proportion of Palestinian prisoners, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Details are subject to further negotiations, which are expected to begin within 16 days of the start of the first phase.
The third phase will feature the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and will begin plans to rebuild Gaza. Arrangements regarding the Strip's future governance remain vague. The Biden administration and much of the international community have advocated for the return of the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, to the Gaza Strip, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a brief civil war in 2007. Ta. But Israel has repeatedly rejected this proposal.
More than 15 months of war has left more than 46,000 Palestinians dead and much of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed. The International Court of Justice is investigating claims that Israel committed genocide.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostages. A ceasefire agreement signed in November 2023 resulted in the release of 100 hostages in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli prisons, but fell apart a week later.
The Gaza war is destabilizing the region, involving not only Iran, which is committed to destroying Israel, but also Iran and its allies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. There has also been political discord and large-scale protests around the world over Western support for Israel.
