US confident Gaza ceasefire will start on Sunday – despite Netanyahu delaying cabinet vote to sign it off
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Israeli cabinet now expected to meet on Friday to sign-off truce – after Israeli PM accuses Hamas of backtracking on agreement. The US has said it is confident that the historic Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal will begin on Sunday, despite Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Hamas of backtracking on the deal and delaying a vote by his cabinet to approve it.
![[A Palestinian child sits amid the rubble of buildings destroyed in Gaza City]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/09/SEI236151928.jpg)
America’s top diplomat, secretary of state Antony Blinken said at a briefing on Thursday evening: “On the ceasefire, I am confident... I fully expect that implementation will begin … on Sunday.” He added that it would take “tremendous effort, political courage, compromise” to ensure that the deal endures and end 15 months of war.
![[People celebrate along a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip before Mr Netanyahu’s statement]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/11/SEI236156641.jpg)
"It's not exactly surprising that in a process and negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end," Mr Blinken said. Mr Netanyahu, who is no stranger to posturing when it comes to a Gaza, claimed in a morning statement issued by the Israeli prime minister's office: “Hamas has reneged on parts of the agreement... and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions”. He added that the situation had created a “last-minute crisis” over the deal announced on Wednesday by mediator Qatar, but did not elaborate. Minutes after that statement was released, senior Hamas official Izzat el-Reshiq said via the group’s Telegram channel that Hamas was committed to the truce agreement.
