Postponing the vote on the ceasefire agreement in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the vote to approve the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking to make changes to the agreement at the last minute.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was still a “loose end” and that he was confident the ceasefire would begin on Sunday as planned.

Although Israeli negotiators agreed to the deal after months of talks, it cannot be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and the government.

Hamas said it was committed to the agreement, but the BBC has learned that it is trying to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released under the agreement.

Then came the delay Israeli raids on Gaza after Wednesday's announcement The agreement led to the deaths of more than 80 people, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

A few hours before the meeting was scheduled to take place on Thursday morning, Netanyahu accused Hamas of trying to “extort last-minute concessions.”

A statement issued by his office said that the government will not convene until Hamas accepts “all elements of the agreement.”

Blinken said such a delay was expected in such a “difficult” situation.

“It is not entirely surprising that in a process and negotiation that is this challenging and this fraught, you might get a loose end,” he said at a news conference in Washington.

“We're tying up that loose end as we speak.”

He said the United States is “confident” that the agreement will enter into force on Sunday as planned, and that the ceasefire will continue after that.

Israeli media reported that the Cabinet is expected to meet on Friday to approve the deal and that the alleged issue has been resolved, although this has not been officially confirmed.

A majority of Israeli ministers are expected to support the agreement, but Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said late Thursday that his right-wing party would withdraw from Netanyahu's government if it was approved.

Ben Gvir said in a press conference, “The agreement being formed is a reckless agreement,” adding that it “will erase the achievements of the war.”

However, he said that his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party would not seek to overthrow the government if the agreement was ratified.

The leader of the government's other far-right party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party, urged him to join him in resigning.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the BBC that the movement is committed to the agreement announced by the mediators.

The official told the BBC that the head of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, officially informed Qatar and Egypt of their approval of all terms of the agreement.

But BBC correspondent in Gaza Rushdi Abu Al-Ouf learned that Hamas was trying to add the names of one or two symbolic members to the list of prisoners who would be released under the deal.

The first six-week phase of the deal will see 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east, away from densely populated areas of Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians will be able to begin returning to their homes and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed to enter the area every day.

Negotiations on the second phase – which is supposed to see the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to “sustainable calm” – are scheduled to begin on the 16th.

The third and final phase will include the return of any remaining hostage bodies and the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take years.

Israeli air strikes continued after the agreement was announced on Wednesday. At least 12 people were killed in Gaza City, with a doctor telling BBC staff he “did not rest for a minute” during the “bloody night”.

The Israeli army and the Israeli General Security Service said in a statement that raids were carried out on 50 targets in Gaza since the agreement was announced.

The Prime Minister of Qatar – who mediated the negotiations – called for “calm” on both sides before the start of the first phase of the six-week ceasefire agreement.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas — which Israel, the United States and others designate as a terrorist organization — in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 wounded. foreclose.

More than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced, there is widespread destruction, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while relief agencies struggle to get aid to those in need.

Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, and 34 of them are presumed dead. There were four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.