Israel has accused the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas of reneging on parts of the Gaza ceasefire agreement announced the previous day.
"Hamas backed away from parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an attempt to extract last-minute concessions," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
"The Israeli security cabinet will not meet (to approve the agreement) until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," the statement, quoted by AFP, added.
Several Israeli media reports had mentioned a possible meeting of this limited cabinet in the late morning before the cabinet vote on the agreement, but this was not officially confirmed.
At midnight, Netanyahu's office had indicated that the "final details" were still being negotiated and that "an official statement by the prime minister" on the agreement would only be published "after (their) finalisation".
The agreement provides for a ceasefire after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the release of the hostages kidnapped on 7 October 2023.
According to the mediators, the agreement envisages three stages, starting with a ceasefire from 19 January and the release in 42 days of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for a thousand Palestinian prisoners, as well as an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been devastated by the war.
Under the terms of the agreement, the remaining hostages, dead or alive, are to be released in a second stage, at the end of the 42 days. | BGNES
