Netanyahu says Israel retains 'right to return to combat' if ceasefire negotiations do not progress
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Israel retains the "right" to resume fighting if negotiations with Hamas over the implementation of a ceasefire - expected to take effect today - do not progress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. Speaking hours before a long-sought Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was expected to take effect, Mr Netanyahu warned: "If we must return to fighting, we will do that in new, forceful ways.".
US President Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump, who takes over from his Democratic rival after his inauguration on Monday, gave "full backing to Israel's right to return to combat if Israel concludes that negotiations on Phase B are futile", the Israeli PM said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. Qatari officials who brokered the deal between Israel and Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, said the ceasefire will come into effect from today at 6.30am UK time after it was approved by the Israeli cabinet on Friday night.
Follow the latest updates on the Gaza ceasefire. In its first stage, the deal would see 33 of the 98 hostages freed over the course of six weeks. About half of the 98 are believed to be alive. The remainder are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.
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