Violence continued in Gaza on Thursday despite a ceasefire announced on Wednesday night, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s office delayed approval of the agreement and accused Hamas of trying to alter the terms.
An Israeli Cabinet meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. local time has been postponed over claims Hamas sought last-minute concessions.
The BBC reported that the new terms concerned the release of specific Hamas prisoners.
“Contrary to an explicit clause that gives Israel veto power over the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terror, Hamas demands to dictate the identity of these terrorists,” The Jerusalem Post quoted a statement from Netanyahu’s office as saying.
It added: “The prime minister instructed the negotiating team to stand firm on the agreed understandings and to outright reject Hamas's last-minute extortion attempts.”
Reuters cited a senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Risheq, as saying the group remained committed to the terms of the ceasefire announced by mediators.
However, the news agency also quoted Netanyahu’s office as saying in a statement: “Hamas reneged 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," the statement continued.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the ceasefire agreement, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, would last 42 days in its first phase, with implementation to commence two or three days after its signing.
The Israeli daily cited reports from pan-Arab news outlet The New Arab that Hamas had found a “loophole” in the deal and that Egypt had agreed to amend the document to close the loophole.
A senior Israeli political source told The Jerusalem Post that the concessions concerned the ‘Philadelphi Corridor,’ a strip of land along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Israel maintains that the strip is a route used to smuggle arms to Hamas inside Gaza.
The BBC cited the Hamas-run civil defense agency as saying on Thursday that 71 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced.
