Rifts with Hamas and a far-right minister’s threat to resign complicated progress toward the Israeli cabinet’s vote on the deal, which includes the release of hostages.
A new report published in the U.K. medical journal The Lancet indicates that far from exaggerating the human suffering in Gaza, the ministry has likely underestimated the true number of the dead by as much as 41 percent.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a "last minute crisis" with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Qatar, which mediated the agreement, said the cease-fire deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is set to begin on Sunday, pausing the devastating 15-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is due to take effect from 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Sunday, following final approval of the deal by the Israeli government.
The long-awaited ceasefire and hostage release deal between the Israeli government and Hamas will take effect on Sunday, potentially signaling a new chapter in a bloody 15-month conflict that has enflamed the Middle East.
The ceasefire as agreed to in Qatar is set to last 42 days. Over that period, 33 hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, there will be a slow withdrawal of the Israeli military from urban centers in Gaza and a surge of humanitarian aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backing out of a cease-fire deal to release hostages and end the war in Gaza, which has raged for more than a year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages until Hamas backs down, accusing the group of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions.