Updated On: 17 January, 2025 08:17 AM IST | Tel Aviv | Agencies
Netanyahu says Cabinet won’t meet regarding truce until Hamas backs down

Palestinians check the rubble of buildings hit in Israeli strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. Pics/AFP
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions Izzat al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators”.