Jerusalem, Jan 16 (EFE) – The Israeli government will meet on Friday to approve the ceasefire agreement with Hamas after postponing the vote, an Israeli official confirmed to EFE.
A senior member of the Hamas political bureau assured EFE that all differences over the agreement “had been resolved.”
The news come after Israeli authorities accused Hamas of adding last-minute conditions to the pact announced Wednesday night by Qatar, one of the mediators along with the United States and Egypt.
Hamas denied the accusations and said Israel was trying to “create tension at a critical time.”
The agreement, which is very similar to the one announced by US President Joe Biden in May, calls for the gradual release of Israeli hostages in Gaza (dead and alive) in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
On Thursday morning, as the Israeli government was about to vote on implementing the pact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warned that Hamas had changed parts of the agreement and was trying to extract “concessions” at the last minute.
Shortly after, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (whose far-right Religious Zionism party is key to the stability of Netanyahu’s coalition government) threatened to quit the coalition if Israel did not commit to continuing the war after the first phase of the ceasefire.
According to the draft agreement, to which EFE had access, the truce provides for three phases of 42 days each.
In the first phase, 33 hostages (women, minors, people over 50, sick and wounded) would be released; men under 50, including soldiers, would only be released in a second phase, in which Israel would also have to relinquish control of the Philadelphi Corridor (Gaza’s border with Egypt).
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer insisted at a press conference on Thursday on the importance of securing the corridor to prevent weapons smuggling.
On Thursday, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, assured EFE that Israel has every intention of keeping its troops in the corridor during the first phase of the agreement.
Another Israeli minister, Amichai Chikli, who belongs to Netanyahu’s Likud party, threatened on X to quit the government if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi Corridor before achieving the objectives of the war, which include the release of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.EFE
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