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Hamas reneges on Gaza ceasefire deal, Israeli PM’s office says

The Palestinian group has backed out of the deal in a "last-minute blackmail attempt," Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said

TEL AVIV, January 16. /TASS/. The Palestinian radical movement Hamas has reneged on the ceasefire deal, and is causing a last-minute crisis, which hampers the completion of the agreement on the Gaza Strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed.

"Hamas has reneged on agreements, creating a last-minute crisis that prevents the completion of the deal that was already agreed on," the office said in a statement.

The Palestinian group has backed out of the deal in a "last-minute blackmail attempt," Netanyahu’s office continued. "Israel will not set a date for a cabinet and government meeting until the mediators announce that Hamas has approved all the details of the agreement," the office said. The Israeli cabinet was originally scheduled to meet at 12:00 p.m. Moscow time (9:00 a.m. GMT) on Thursday to approve the Gaza ceasefire accord, public broadcaster Kan Radio reported.

Earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu’s adviser Dmitri Gendelman told TASS that the Israeli premier held a meeting with a group of Israeli negotiators via video link in Doha late last night and instructed them to reject last-minute attempts by Hamas to impose its terms. "In particular, despite the clear clause granting Israel a veto power to release terrorists," the radical movement is pushing to decide on its own which Palestinian prisoners will be released by the Israeli side, Gendelman explained.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced late on January 15 that Israel and Hamas reached a deal to release hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip and introduce a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave through mediation efforts by Doha, Washington and Cairo. The accord is due to take effect on Sunday, January 19. The first stage of the agreement would last 42 days and see the release of 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Late on Wednesday, the Israeli PM’s office said final details of releasing Gaza hostages were still unresolved as it hoped to finalize those "tonight."