Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday in a statement said that Israel will be unable to move forward with the framework of ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas produces a list of the hostages to be released. The Israel PM's statement posted by Netanyahu's office from the official handle on X also said that Israel would not tolerate violations of the agreement and held Hamas solely responsible.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: We will be unable to move forward with the framework until we receive the list of the hostages who will be released, as was agreed. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. Hamas is solely responsible," the post read.
Earlier on Friday Netanyahu said that a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached after his office had said earlier there were last-minute snags in finalising a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war.
Netanyahu said he would convene his security Cabinet later Friday and then the government will approve the long-awaited hostage deal. Netanyahu's pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval of the deal, which would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and see dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The deal would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their homes in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in the war-ravaged territory on Thursday.
Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and that their families had been informed the deal had been reached.
Israel had delayed a vote Thursday on the ceasefire, blaming a last-minute dispute with Hamas for holding up approval as rising tensions in Netanyahu's government coalition raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete.
Netanyahu's office had accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions. In a briefing Thursday, David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesman, said Hamas' new demands dealt with the deployment of Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor, the narrow strip bordering Egypt that Israeli troops seized in May.
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
