TEL AVIV, January 16. /TASS/. The details of the deal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages have not been fully finalized yet, so the Israeli delegation continues talks in Qatar, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said.
"As of this time, the details of the agreement have not been finalized. The Israeli negotiating team in Doha continues to make efforts to reach a solution," he said at a news conference.
According to Mencer, the Israeli government is determined to reach a deal because it wants to bring the hostages home.
"We hope that the details of the deal will be agreed," he said.
Israel will not announce that the Doha talks reached success and its cabinet won’t convene for a meeting to approve the deal until the government has the final text of the agreement, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced earlier on Thursday that Hamas was reneging on the agreements reached, creating a crisis at the last minute and preventing the deal from being finalized. The office added that the cabinet will not set the date for its meeting until mediators report that Hamas has confirmed all the details of the agreement. According to Kan radio, an Israeli war cabinet meeting to approve the Gaza deal was previously scheduled for noon of January 16 but didn’t happen.
Also on Thursday, Dmitry Gendelman, adviser to the Israeli prime minister's office, told TASS that Netanyahu held a video link meeting with Israeli negotiators in Doha overnight into Thursday, instructing them to reject Hamas' attempts to dictate last-minute terms. He said that, for example, contrary to a clear clause granting Israel a veto over the release of terrorists that "symbolize terrorism," the radical group is seeking to be able to determine the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani announced on January 15 that - helped by mediation efforts by Doha, Cairo, and Washington - Israel and Hamas agreed on the release of hostages from Gaza and a ceasefire, and the deal will take effect on January 19.
During the initial 42-day phase, Hamas is supposed to release 33 Israeli military and civilian female hostages, as well as wounded civilians, children, and the elderly, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
However, late on January 15, Netanyahu's office said the talks were not over yet because "there were still several unresolved issues in the agreement." According to the office, Israel hoped to resolve the remaining differences overnight.