Netanyahu says ‘last-minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal

TEL AVIV —  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a last-minute dispute with the militant group Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited cease-fire that would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in the war-ravaged territory.

Rising tensions — both in negotiations and in Netanyahu’s government coalition — raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after President Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete.

That created a dual reality: War-weary Palestinians in Gaza, the relatives of hostages held in the enclave and world leaders all welcomed the result of months of painstaking diplomacy, even as Netanyahu postponed a Cabinet vote on the agreement until Friday, at the earliest.

Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions — without specifying which parts.

“Hamas is backing out of the understandings and creating a last-minute crisis that prevents a settlement,” the Israeli leader’s office said.

It was unclear to what extent the holdup in the approval of the deal — originally scheduled to go into effect Sunday — also reflected jockeying to keep Netanyahu’s wobbly government together.

The cease-fire agreement has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, on whose support the Israeli prime minister depends to remain in power. On Thursday, his hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit if Israel approves the cease-fire.

World & Nation

Cease-fire deal reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza

A cease-fire deal, announced by U.S. and Qatari mediators, promises to end more than a year of conflict in Gaza Strip. Some Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners under the agreement.

Jan. 15, 2025

A U.S. official with knowledge of the negotiations said Hamas made a last-minute revision relating to the distance Israeli forces would withdraw from at least one largely populated area in Gaza that the official would not identify. The issue is expected to be resolved quickly and enable the cease-fire to begin as planned this weekend, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the cease-fire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”

The deal announced Wednesday would see scores of hostages held in Gaza released and a pause in fighting with a view to eventually wind down a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.

Israel responded with ground and air attacks that have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The military campaign has also leveled vast swaths of Gaza, and pushed about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are struggling with hunger and disease in squalid tent camps on the coast.

Netanyahu faces internal pressure

The Israeli prime minister faces great domestic pressure to bring home the hostages, whose families have pleaded with Netanyahu to prioritize the release of their loved ones over politics.

But Israeli divisions over the deal were on stark display Thursday, as Ben-Gvir, a key government coalition partner and Cabinet member, threatened to resign, saying the cease-fire was “reckless” and would “destroy all of Israel’s achievements.”

The departure of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party would reduce the number of the ruling coalition’s seats in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, and leave Netanyahu’s government with a slim majority. Ben-Gvir said his party would return to the coalition if Israel resumes its war.

Ben-Gvir’s resignation would not, in and of itself, derail the cease-fire deal. But the move destabilizes the Israeli government at a delicate moment and could lead to the government’s collapse if Ben-Gvir is joined by other key Netanyahu allies.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for instance, is vehemently opposed to the agreement and has demanded that Netanyahu promise to resume the war against Hamas after the first phase of the cease-fire as a condition of his party staying in the coalition.

A night of heavy Israeli strikes

Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli bombardment Wednesday night into Thursday as people celebrate the cease-fire deal. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before cease-fires as a way to project strength.

“We were expecting that the occupation would intensify the bombing, like they did every time there were reports on progress in the truce [negotiations],” said Mohammed Mahdi, who fled his home a few months ago and is sheltering in Gaza City.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes have killed at least 72 people since the cease-fire deal was announced. It said the toll from Thursday’s strikes includes only bodies brought to two hospitals in Gaza City, and that the actual toll is probably higher.

“Yesterday was a bloody day, and today is bloodier,” said Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department.

The Israeli military said it had struck about 50 militant targets across Gaza over the last day, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launch sites.

Anxiety spread across the strip Thursday with the news of last-minute quarreling between Hamas and Israel.

“We ask our brothers in Hamas to communicate with mediators to end the war,” said Omar Jendiya in Deir al Balah. “Enough with the destruction and killing.”

A phased withdrawal and hostage release

Under the deal reached Wednesday, 33 of some 100 hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.

The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second, more difficult phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting cease-fire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and wants to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.

Questions about Gaza’s future

Longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction.

Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. Israel blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.

Hamas, which does not accept Israel’s existence, has come under overwhelming pressure from Israel’s invasion of Gaza’s largest cities and towns and the takeover of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, have been killed.

But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.

Goldenberg, Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah and Magdy from Cairo. AP reporters Sam McNeil in southern Israel and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.