Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a vote to approve the Gaza cease-fire agreement, which had been scheduled for Thursday, accusing Hamas of seeking last-minute changes to the deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the end was “tied up” and he was confident the ceasefire would still start on Sunday as planned.
Although Israeli negotiators agreed to the deal after months of talks, it cannot be implemented until it is approved by the security cabinet and the government.
Hamas said it was committed to the deal, but the BBC understands it was trying to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners who would be freed under the deal.
The delay came after fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza after the deal was announced on Wednesday killed more than 80 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Hours before Thursday morning’s meeting, Netanyahu accused Hamas of trying to “force last-minute concessions.”
The cabinet will not meet until Hamas accepts “all elements of the agreement,” his office said in a statement.
Blinken said that such a delay was to be expected in such a “challenging” situation.
“It’s not really surprising that in a process and negotiations that have been this challenging and fraught, you can get a loose end,” he said at a news conference in Washington.
“We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”
He said the US was “confident” the agreement would enter into force on Sunday as planned, and that the ceasefire would then hold.
Israeli media reported that the cabinet is expected to meet on Friday to approve the deal and that the alleged problem has been resolved, although this has not been officially confirmed.
Most Israeli ministers are expected to support the deal, but late Thursday Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his right-wing party would leave Netanyahu’s government if it is approved.
“The deal that is taking shape is an ill-advised deal,” Ben-Gvir told a news conference, adding that it would “erase the achievements of the war.”
However, he said his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party would not seek to topple the government if the agreement is ratified.
He called on the leader of the other far-right party in the government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party, to join him in resigning.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the BBC that the group was committed to the agreement announced by mediators.
The head of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, has officially informed Qatar and Egypt of his approval of all terms of the deal, the official told the BBC.
But the BBC’s Gaza correspondent Rushdi Abualouf understands that Hamas has been trying to add the names of one or two token members to the list of prisoners to be released under the deal.
In the first six-week phase of the deal, 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Israeli troops would also withdraw to the east, away from the densely populated areas of Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians could begin to return to their homes, and hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter the territory every day.
Negotiations for the second phase – which would see the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and a return to “sustainable peace” – would begin on the 16th.
The third and final phase would involve the return of all remaining bodies of the hostages and the rebuilding of Gaza – something that could take years.
Israeli airstrikes continued after the deal was announced on Wednesday. At least 12 people were killed in Gaza City, where a doctor told BBC staff he “didn’t rest for a minute” during the “bloody night”.
Strikes have been carried out on 50 targets in Gaza since the agreement was announced, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said in a statement.
Qatar’s prime minister – who mediated the talks – called for “calm down” on both sides before the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement begins.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and others – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and injured 251 take as a hostage.
Since then, more than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have also been displaced, destruction is widespread and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as aid agencies struggle to get aid to those in need.
Israel says Hamas is still holding 94 hostages, 34 of whom are presumed dead. Four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.
