By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-19 06:06:15 | Updated at 2025-01-19 09:05:21
3 hours ago
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military not to begin the ceasefire in Gaza, scheduled to start at 8.30am local time, until Hamas issued the names of the hostages to be released, his office said on Sunday.
“The prime minister instructed the IDF that the ceasefire, which is supposed to go into effect at 8.30am, will not begin until Israel has the list of released abductees that Hamas has pledged to provide,” his office said in a statement.
Hamas claimed the delay in disclosing the names was due to “technical field reasons”, and they are committed to the Gaza ceasefire deal scheduled.
The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was supposed to take effect on Sunday morning with a hostage release set to follow hours later, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.
Israeli forces started withdrawing from areas in Gaza’s Rafah to the Philadelphi corridor along the border between Egypt and Gaza, pro-Hamas media reported early on Sunday.
The ceasefire agreement followed months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, and came just ahead of the January 20 inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump.
Its first stage will last six weeks, during which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages – women, children, men over 50, the ill and wounded – will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
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