Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, set to take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time, would not begin as scheduled unless Hamas provides a list of hostages scheduled for release on Sunday .
“The Prime Minister instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] “The ceasefire, which is to take effect at 8:30 a.m., will not begin until Israel releases the list of abducted people that Hamas has promised to provide,” Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday.
Hamas blamed “technical” reasons for the delay in sharing the names, saying in a statement that it was “reaffirming its commitment” to the ceasefire agreement announced last week.
“There is a delay due to technical reasons in providing the names of those to be released in the first batch,” the group said in a statement.
Mediator Qatar said on Saturday that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, after Israel’s Cabinet voted to approve a truth-and-hostage release deal.
After a meeting that lasted more than six hours on Saturday morning, the Israeli government ratified the agreement that could bring a permanent end to the 15-month war with Hamas in the defeated Gaza region.
“The government has approved the framework for the return of the hostages. The framework for the release of the hostages will go into effect on Sunday,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Netanyahu’s office said the agreement “supports achieving the war objectives.”
But later Saturday, Netanyahu said Israel would not move forward on a ceasefire until it received a list of 33 hostages who would be released by Hamas in the first phase of the deal.
“Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. Hamas bears full responsibility for this,” Netanyahu said in a statement on the social media platform X.
On Saturday, Israel’s ultra-nationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned from Netanyahu’s Cabinet in protest against the ceasefire agreement, according to media reports. He previously said the deal was “reckless” and that it would “erase the achievements of the war.”
In a statement Saturday, Hamas – which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States, Britain and other Western countries – argued that Israel “failed to achieve its offensive goals” and “only war Succeeded in committing a crime which insults the dignity of humanity.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 hostages. Less than 100 of those hostages are believed to remain in Hamas custody, but about one-third are believed to have died.
Gaza officials say subsequent Israeli military operations have killed about 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Without providing evidence, Israel says the dead include thousands of militants it has killed.
The US, Qatar and Egypt, which have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas for months, announced a ceasefire on Wednesday.
The ceasefire will begin with a three-week pause in fighting and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Thirty-three of the remaining 98 Israeli hostages, including women, children, men over 50, and sick and injured detainees, are expected to be released at this stage. In exchange, Israel would release approximately 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
The White House said it expected the three female hostages to be released to Israel through the Red Cross in the afternoon. Israel’s Justice Ministry published its details early Saturday, with the cease-fire agreement saying 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released on Sunday for each female hostage.
Later Sunday, chief US negotiator Brett McGurk said the agreement called for the release of four more female hostages after seven days, followed by three more hostages every seven days.
In this first phase of a three-phase deal, Israeli forces will also withdraw to the shores of Gaza, and many Palestinians will be able to return to their remaining homes as aid flows increase to the enclave, which has been destroyed.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellatty said on Saturday that the agreement provides for the entry of 600 trucks per day into Gaza, including 50 trucks of fuel.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued since the ceasefire was announced, including on Saturday.
According to residents, Israeli tanks shelled the Zitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, while airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza. Medics in Gaza said five people were killed in an airstrike on a tent in the Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military said it struck 50 “terrorist targets” across the region on Friday alone, the military said in a statement Saturday.
At least 123 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was announced a few days ago, according to the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service.
Some information in this report has been received from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
