Netanyahu’s office says cabinet won’t meet to approve ceasefire deal until Hamas backs down on 'last minute concessions'

 

1h ago

08.45 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jan/16/israel-gaza-war-live-blog-updates-strikes-hamas-ceasefire-talks?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-6788c4cb8f083454d1c6ab1f#block-6788c4cb8f083454d1c6ab1f

 

Netanyahu’s office says cabinet won’t meet to approve ceasefire deal until Hamas backs down on 'last minute concessions'

 

Israel’s security cabinet has delayed a planned meeting to approve a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accusing Hamas of attempting to obtain ‘last minute concessions’ on some aspects of the deal.

 

Reuters quotes Netanyahu’s office saying “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.”

 

Originally scheduled for 11am (9am GMT), the Jerusalem Post had earlier reported the security cabinet delay had been caused because “the hostage deal delegation hasn’t finished its work in Qatar and returned to Israel.”

 

It reported “When the delegation returns, the security cabinet will convene.”

 

More details soon …