DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Israel said it had delayed holding a cabinet meeting on Thursday to ratify a ceasefire with Hamas, blaming the militant group for the hold-up, as Palestinian authorities said Israeli airstrikes overnight had killed 77 people in Gaza.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal, agreed a day earlier, that was scheduled to take effect from Sunday to bring an end to 15-months of bloodshed.
President Joe Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk and President-elect Donald J. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff were in Doha with Egyptian and Qatari mediators working to resolve the last remaining dispute, a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. The dispute involves the identities of several prisoners Hamas is demanding to be released and it is expected to be resolved soon, the U.S. official said.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country’s security cabinet and government, and a vote had been slated for Friday. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the meeting, accusing Hamas of making last-minute demands and going back on agreements.
Hardliners in Netanyahu’s government were still hoping to stop the deal, though a majority of ministers were expected to back it. For some Palestinians, the deal could not come soon enough.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 81 people had been killed over the past 24 hours and about 188 injured. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said at least 77 of those were killed since the ceasefire announcement. A military spokesperson said that the Israeli military is looking into the reports.
In a related development, Hamas’s armed wing warned that Israel’s continuing air strikes and shelling in Gaza after the announcement of a ceasefire deal was risking hostages meant to be released.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence that the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza would begin Sunday. In another development, earlier this week, the World Health Organization called for the international community to fund a scaled-up aid response to end 15 months of war in the region.
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