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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backtracking on parts of a Gaza ceasefire deal Thursday and said his Cabinet would not meet to give necessary approval to the agreement until the militant group accepts all of the elements.
A statement from Netanyahu's office said Hamas was trying to 'extort last minute concessions.' The multiphase ceasefire, announced Wednesday after months of negotiations, was due to go into effect Sunday if fully approved.
Palestinian medics said Israeli forces carried out multiple deadly airstrikes Thursday in the Gaza Strip. U.N. agencies said they were ready to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the United Nations says at least 1.9 million of the 2.3 million population have been displaced and 92% of housing units have been destroyed.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered his strong support for the ceasefire after the deal was announced Wednesday. 'As the President of the State of Israel, I say in the clearest terms: This is the right move,' he said. 'This is an important move. This is a necessary move. There is no greater moral, human, Jewish, or Israeli obligation than to bring our sons and daughters back to us - whether to recover at home, or to be laid to rest.'
But one of the main opponents of the deal in the government, minister of finance Bezalel Smotrich, called it 'a bad and dangerous deal for the national security of the State of Israel.'
