The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has postponed a cabinet vote on the ceasefire deal that prompted premature celebrations in Gaza and was expected to take effect on Sunday, January 19, 2025.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said that his cabinet will not meet as scheduled to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal, blaming Hamas for causing a “last-minute crisis.”
The Israeli cabinet was set to meet on Thursday, January 16, 2025, morning to ratify the deal.
“Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions.
“The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
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.
Another Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri said that there is no basis to Netanyahu’s claims about the movement backtracking from terms in the ceasefire agreement.
According to the Israel’s broadcaster Kan, one of the reasons behind the postponement of the meeting could be that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had not yet informed Netanyahu whether his party will leave the government in protest against the planned agreement.
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.
Earlier, a number of Israeli families, together with supporters, staged a sit-in in front of Netanyahu’s office, calling for the cabinet to not sign the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Yehoshua Shani, the father of Captain Uri Shani who was killed during the fighting, said, “Do not sign a deal that means surrender, sacrificing the remaining kidnapped and giving up Israel’s security.”
He added, “Come here before the cabinet meeting, and join us to ask the Prime Minister to stop and not sign a surrender deal with Hamas.”
Israel Steps Up Attacks
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has stepped up attacks on the Gaza Strip since the announcement, killing at least 81 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
People’s celebrations over the ceasefire announcement have been cut short by heavy waves of air strikes.
Many of the attacks have been in Gaza City, with the majority killed women and children. The attacks have also spanned the al-Mawasi evacuation zone and here in the central area. At least 20 children and 25 women are among the dead.
Those who survived 15 months of war were hoping they would witness the ceasefire, but in the last minutes, many lives have been lost.
Another 200 were wounded, the ministry added.
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.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,788 Palestinians and wounded 110,453 since October 7, 2023.
Othman Moqbel, CEO of Action For Humanity, urged global pressure to stop Israel’s attacks in Gaza immediately, not simply by Sunday.
He noted in a statement that Israel should not “have a blank cheque to commit as many war crimes as possible between now and then.”
“The world must pressure Israel to halt their aggression immediately. This ceasefire deal was called 466 days too late, 46,000 people have been murdered by this senseless war.
“That’s almost 100 a day, on average. Four more days of Israel continuing like this, could kill at least another 400 people, if not more. The time to stop the killing of Palestinians is not Sunday. It is now.”
Othman Moqbel
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