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| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu | Photo: Reuters |
The Israeli cabinet will not hold a vote on the ceasefire agreement until Hamas accepts all terms. Israel has accused Hamas of trying to add new items to the deal at the last minute.
The Israeli cabinet was scheduled to vote on the ceasefire deal on Thursday morning, but hours before the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the vote had been postponed. The vote was likely to approve the ceasefire deal announced the previous day, Wednesday.
Following Netanyahu's announcement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "a part that was not completed" had been added and that he was confident that the ceasefire agreement would take effect next Sunday as planned.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani formally announced the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Doha on Wednesday evening.
US President Joe Biden later separately confirmed the ceasefire. The country's newly elected President Donald Trump has made several posts on social media about the ceasefire.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt were the main mediators in the 15-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire agreement is scheduled to take effect on January 19.
Although Israeli negotiators have agreed to a ceasefire deal in Doha, it will not take effect until the country's security cabinet and government approve it.
Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire agreement after Israel announced it would delay a vote on the deal. But the BBC understands that Hamas wants to add a few things to the deal. It wants to include some of its own members in the list of Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails under the deal.
The announcement that the ceasefire agreement was delayed by the Israeli cabinet came at a time when more than 80 Palestinians lost their lives in Gaza in the country's attack yesterday.
In a statement hours before the cabinet meeting held yesterday morning, Netanyahu complained that Hamas was "trying to force some concessions" at the last minute. Therefore, the cabinet vote will not be held until Hamas "agrees to all the conditions."
Blinken said the delay in the Israeli cabinet vote was expected in such a "challenging" situation.