Benjamin Netanyahu said his cabinet would not meet to vote on the ceasefire and hostage release deal announced by Qatar to halt the war in Gaza until "Hamas accepts all elements of the agreement," a development in which Can derail months of work. An end to 15 months of brutal conflict.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced the news on Thursday morning, ahead of a cabinet meeting where ministers are expected to ratify the deal reached in the Qatari capital Doha on Wednesday night.
"Hamas has reneged on parts of its agreement with the mediators and Israel in order to force them to make last-minute concessions," the statement said, adding that the situation had created a "last-minute crisis."
Minutes after Israel's statement, senior Hamas official Izzat Reshik said via the group's Telegram channel that Hamas was committed to abiding by the ceasefire, but gave no further details.
In Gaza, fighting continues despite a ceasefire expected to take effect on Sunday. Israeli air strikes in several areas overnight have killed at least 73 people and injured 230 others, the civil defense agency said on Thursday.
Netanyahu's office did not specify which parts of the deal were still under discussion, but reports in Israeli media ahead of Wednesday's announcement indicated that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza's border with Egypt was the subject of 11th-hour discussions. The mediator then reported that the matter had been resolved.
Israel's Kan radio reported on Thursday that the issue was related to far-right cabinet minister Bezalel Smotrich's opposition to the deal. Smotrich has been highly critical of an earlier proposed deal with Hamas, although it is expected to be approved by a majority of the cabinet, even without the finance minister or hardline national security minister Itamar Ben- Gerver's support.
Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Israel Katz met with Smotrich on Wednesday after Bengvir asked him to join forces and withdraw their parties from the coalition if a deal is reached - which could lead to the collapse of the government.
According to Israeli TV, Smotrich offered Netanyahu a series of conditions for support, including a promise that Israel would return to fighting and severely restrict access to the area if Hamas managed to maintain control of Gaza. of humanitarian aid.
Israeli media reported widely this week that the government was preparing to resume hostilities at the end of a six-week truce phase, during which the hostages were supposed to be released.
Netanyahu's chief of staff Yossi Fox said on Wednesday that the deal "includes the possibility of resuming fighting at the end of the first phase if the second phase of negotiations does not develop as promised," Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported. . Achieve war goals: military and civilian elimination of Hamas and release of all hostages.”
The deal hammered out by U.S., Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators in Doha after weeks of talks largely follows the outlines of a truce first proposed last May.
In the 42-day first phase, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women (including female soldiers) and those over 50 years old. In exchange, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas. There were 30 other hostages.
Displaced Palestinians will be allowed to move freely in the Gaza Strip, which Israel divides in half with a military corridor. The injured should be evacuated for treatment abroad, and aid to the area should be increased to 600 trucks a day - higher than the minimum 500 trucks aid agencies say is needed to contain Gaza's devastating humanitarian crisis.
The second phase will repatriate the remaining living hostages and release a corresponding proportion of Palestinian prisoners, and Israel will completely withdraw from the Palestinian territories. Specific details are subject to further negotiations, with the first phase set to begin in 16 days.
The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members and will launch a Gaza reconstruction plan. Future governance arrangements for the zone remain unclear.
More than 15 months of war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure. The International Court of Justice is examining allegations that Israel committed genocide.
The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead and another 250 taken hostage. A ceasefire agreed in November 2023 collapsed a week later and a hundred hostages were released in exchange for 240 women and children held in Israeli prisons.