Netanyahu Says Gaza Ceasefire Won’t Begin Until Hamas Gives List Of Prisoners | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army not to start truce in Gazastarting at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) until Hamas announces the names of the prisoners to be released, its office said.
“The prime minister has instructed the IDF that the cease-fire, which is scheduled to take effect at 8:30 a.m., will not begin until Israel receives the list of freed abductees that Hamas has pledged to deliver,” his office said in a statement on Sunday.
In a statement shortly afterward, Hamas blamed “technical field reasons” for the delay in handing over the names. It said it was committed to a ceasefire agreement announced last week.
Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Amman, said there was “so much international pressure” on both Hamas and Israel that it would be “very difficult” to see the ceasefire, especially in the first phase, not continuing.
“Will there potentially be any delays at this point? I’m pretty sure that Qatar will put incredible pressure on Hamas, if indeed those names haven’t been handed over yet, to do so,” she said.
“But Hamas has reiterated that it is committed to a ceasefire, and then it will hand over these names as soon as it can.”
This latest development comes hours after Netanyahu said in a speech that Israel reserves the right to continue the war in Gaza, and that it has US support to do so if the second phase of the truce fails.
In the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages from Gaza should be returned and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed.
Israeli forces should withdraw to a buffer zone inside Gaza, and many displaced Palestinians should be able to return home. The devastated territory should also see an increase in humanitarian aid.
This is only the second ceasefire of the war, longer and more consistent than the one-week pause more than a year ago, with the potential to end the fighting forever.
Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first six-week phase and how the rest of the nearly 100 hostages in Gaza will be freed.
The Israeli government approved the ceasefire early Saturday in a rare session during the Jewish Sabbath, more than two days after mediators announced the deal.
The warring parties have been under pressure from both the outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump to reach a deal ahead of the US president’s inauguration on Monday.
