Netanyahu delays the ceasefire vote, as far-right cabinet members threaten to quit
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a cabinet meeting that was scheduled to vote Thursday on the peace deal between Israel and Hamas has been delayed, in a blow to hopes that a ceasefire after 15 months of fighting would take effect Sunday.
Netanyahu said that the meeting will only happen once Hamas pulls back on demands for what he called "last minute concession," adding in a statement that "Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators."
He said that until the mediators notify Israel that "all elements of the agreement" have been accepted, the cabinet meeting would not proceed. He did not specify what elements of the deal Hamas had reneged on.
But in an interview with Al-Araby TV, a senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said there was no basis to claims by Netanyahu that Hamas was retracting parts of the ceasefire agreement.
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Another member of Hamas' political wing, Izzat al-Rishq, said in a statement that Hamas was "committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators."
Netanyahu had called President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump to thank them for their help in reaching the deal late Wednesday. But he has simultaneously faced significant domestic political pressure from far-right members of his coalition government, who have long opposed any deal with Hamas — even though it would lead to the return of dozens of Israelis held captive inside Gaza since October 2023.
Several members of the coalition have repeatedly threatened to abandon the coalition if a deal was finalized — a move that would likely prompt the dissolution of Netanyahu's current government.
"This deal effectively erases the achievements of the war," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Thursday. "It seals the fate of those hostages who are not included in the deal and will end the war with Hamas undefeated, retaining significant capacity to rebuild itself."
He threatened to resign from the government but said he "will not topple Netanyahu."
Several more moderate members of Netanyahu's cabinet said publicly on Wednesday that all their fellow ministers should vote for the deal, as has the country's president, Isaac Herzog.
Later Thursday, Israeli officials said the security cabinet will vote Friday morning, after which the full government cabinet needs to vote to approve the deal. A majority of votes is needed for approval.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Thursday he remains confident the ceasefire will begin on Sunday as planned.
European Union officials applauded the deal and said they're ready to help implement it. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the agreement the "hope the region desperately needed," but noted the humanitarian situation in Gaza is still desperate.
In the hours since the deal was announced by U.S. and Qatari officials, 83 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials there, with airstrikes continuing overnight into Thursday. NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, says many there are anxious that the fighting will get worse before it gets better.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
The war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who said the majority were women and children. The Israeli military says 405 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting since it invaded Gaza.
Kat Lonsdorf, Anas Baba and Teri Schultz contributed reporting to this story.
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