Netanyahu says ceasefire deal with Hamas still not complete ...Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Hamas has backtracked on an earlier understanding of the ceasefire agreement, hours after the US and Qatar announced the deal to end the 15 month war in Gaza.

In a statement Netanyahu said Hamas was objecting to a part of the agreement that gave Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.

He said the group was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners would be released.

The Israeli prime minister said he would issue a formal response “after the final details of the agreement, which are currently being worked on, are completed.”

Hamas has not yet responded to his claims.

Residents and authorities in Gaza have reported intensified Israeli air strikes since the ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced.

The Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence says more than 20 people have been killed in the hours since the agreement.

Under the three-phased deal, due to begin Sunday, Hamas would release dozens of hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The agreement would also allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.

Netanyahu’s statement followed a final farewell address by US President Joe Biden, who earlier touted the role of American diplomacy in negotiating the ceasefire.

The US is expecting that two Americans, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Keith Siegel, will be released in the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.

Separately, Egyptian, Qatar and US negotiators are to head to Cairo on Thursday for further talks on implementing all aspects of the ceasefire deal, a senior US official told the Associated Press.

The official said the negotiators are focused on making sure expectations are clear to both Israel and Hamas, and that implementation of the agreement is carried out as smoothly as possible.

Under the deal, the two sides will begin talks over a second and third phase during the exchanges, which would see more hostages and prisoners released, leading to an end of the war.

Biden said the deal was insulated against breakdown as “the ceasefire would continue as long as negotiations continue.”

Israel will begin to withdraw its forces from Gaza in the first phase, and hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid per day will be allowed into the devastated enclave.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose data is deemed reliable by the UN. Bombing continued on Wednesday with at least 62 reported dead.

Israel launched its offensive after the deadly Hamas attacks of 7 October, 2023. The militant group and allies killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and took 251 hostages.

More than 90 per cent of the population of Gaza was displaced during the war, with more than 60 per cent of buildings in the enclave damaged or destroyed, accoridng to the UN.

Thousands more Palestinian casualties are believed to be buried under rubble

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