Israeli President Netanyahu says Cabinet will not meet to approve Gaza ceasefire | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Netanyahu’s office blames Hamas for causing ‘last-minute crisis’; but the Palestinian group says it is committed to the deal that has been announced.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his cabinet will not meet as planned to approve Gaza cease-fire agreementblaming Hamas for causing the “last minute crisis”.

The Israeli government was due to meet on Thursday morning to ratify the deal, and the ceasefire was due to take effect on Sunday.

“Hamas is ignoring parts of the agreement reached with mediators and Israel in an effort to force concessions at the last minute,” Netanyahu’s statement said. “The Israeli government will not meet until the mediators inform Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”

Following Israel’s announcement, a senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Risheq, said in a statement that the Palestinian group was committed to the cease-fire agreement brokers announced on Wednesday.

According to Israel’s Khan TV, one of the reasons for the postponement of the meeting could be the far-right finance minister
Bezalel Smotrich has not yet informed Netanyahu whether his party will leave the government in protest against the planned deal.

Earlier, several Israeli families, along with supporters, staged a protest outside Netanyahu’s office, calling on the government not to sign a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

“Don’t sign an agreement that means surrender, sacrificing the remaining abductees and giving up Israel’s security,” said Yehoshua Shani, the father of Captain Uri Shani who was killed during the fighting.

“Come here before the cabinet meeting and join us in asking the prime minister to stop and not sign the surrender agreement with Hamas.”

Al Jazeera journalist Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said there was “no information that Hamas is going back” on what they had agreed in ceasefire agreement.

“What we are seeing is an internal conflict within the Netanyahu government, especially among the Religious Zionist Party,” she said.

“This is Smotrich’s party. He threatened to break up the coalition if the deal came to a vote, saying it was a bad deal for Israel and that his party would need assurances that Israel would return to an all-out fight… after the initial phase [of the agreement].”

Netanyahu has faced intense domestic pressure to repatriate scores of Gaza prisoners, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to topple his government if he makes too many concessions.

Attacks on Gaza continue

Meanwhile, Israeli forces intensified their bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 81 people in the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Another 200 were wounded, the ministry added.

In one attack, two people were killed and six were injured after Israeli forces targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, the Civil Defense said.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,788 Palestinians and wounded 110,453 as of October 7, 2023.