Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the Gaza ceasefire, pushing back a critical vote from his cabinet.
The ceasefire agreement was reached earlier this week after ongoing talks between Israeli officials and Hamas, to end 15 months of war and bloodshed.
The multi-stage deal was announced by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, where the talks took place.
However, less than one day later, Netanyahu announced a cabinet vote to officially approve the agreement, originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon, had been delayed.
Netanyahu has accused Hamas of walking back its commitment to the deal as his reasoning while Hamas officials have insisted they still support the agreement.
In a statement released on Thursday (Friday AEDT), he said that “Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions”.
Later the same day his National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would resign if the ceasefire was ratified, doubling down on his strong public opposition of the deal.
The ceasefire deal is due to come into effect on Sunday, just one day before United States President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, who has claimed responsibility for the “epic deal”.
The U.S. defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said the ceasefire deal would “open a new window of hope for Israelis and Palestinians after the months of bloodshed” and “must be implemented rigorously”.
