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Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his cabinet will not meet as scheduled to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal, blaming Hamas for causing a \u201clast-minute crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Israeli cabinet was set to meet on Thursday morning to ratify the deal, with the ceasefire scheduled to take effect from Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions,\u201d a statement from Netanyahu said. \u201cThe Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the Israeli announcement, senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Risheq, said in a statement that the Palestinian group was committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
According to Israel\u2019s broadcaster Kan, one of the reasons behind the postponement of the meeting could be that far-right Finance Minister<\/p>\n
Bezalel Smotrich had not yet informed Netanyahu whether his party will leave the government in protest against the planned agreement.<\/p>\n
Earlier, several Israeli families, together with supporters, staged a sit-in in front of Netanyahu\u2019s office, calling for the cabinet to not sign the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not sign a deal that means surrender, sacrificing the remaining kidnapped and giving up Israel\u2019s security,\u201d Yehoshua Shani, the father of Captain Uri Shani who was killed during the fighting, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome here before the cabinet meeting, and join us to ask the prime minister to stop and not sign a surrender deal with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said there weren\u2019t \u201cany sort of leaks about Hamas going back\u201d on what they agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are seeing rather is the internal conflict within Netanyahu\u2019s government, specifically among the Religious Zionist Party,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Smotrich\u2019s party. He has been threatening to bolt the coalition if this deal came to a vote, saying this was a bad deal for Israel and that his party would need guarantees that Israel will go back to all-out fighting\u2026 after the initial phase [of the agreement].\u201d<\/p>\n
Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of captives in Gaza, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions.<\/p>\n
Haaretz has reported that the Israeli security cabinet will now \u201cconvene to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal on Friday morning\u201d, citing a senior Israeli source.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the security cabinet meeting, the cabinet is expected to vote on the deal. Israeli ministers have not yet been summoned to discuss the deal,\u201d Haaretz reported.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday expressed confidence that the agreement would go into effect on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,\u201d Blinken told a news conference in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
Attacks on Gaza continue<\/strong><\/p>\n In Gaza, Israeli forces intensified their bombardment across the Strip, with at least 81 people killed in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday.<\/p>\n Another 200 were wounded, the ministry added.<\/p>\n In one attack, two people were killed and six injured after Israeli forces targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood, south of Gaza City, Civil Defence said.<\/p>\n One deadly Israeli attack following the announcement of the ceasefire deal killed 20 Palestinians in Jabalia, northern Gaza.<\/p>\n Gaza\u2019s Civil Defence said that in the an-Nazla area of Jabalia, the victims included two children and two women.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we were celebrating the ceasefire announcement, the Israeli warplanes took us by surprise. I woke up to find myself lying in hospital with head injuries,\u201d a boy with a bandaged head told Al Jazeera\u2019s Ibrahim al-Khalili at the site of the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cAll my brothers and my aunts were killed. I miraculously survived as a civil defence member pulled me from under the rubble.\u201d<\/p>\n Abdullah Khadr told Al Jazeera that his family had gathered to hear the ceasefire announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I was about to sleep, I heard a loud explosion. I ran out to find the whole building next to me levelled to the ground; nothing but rubble, dust and smoke rising to the dark skies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard screams from under the concrete ruins. Some civil defence members rushed to our help, and with our bare hands managed to pull out the dead and a few survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,788 people and wounded 110,453 since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n