Tango for Three

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said Israel’s security cabinet would meet later in the day to sign the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the BBC reported, following a delay on Thursday to agreeing the long-awaited deal hoped to halt the 15 months of conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement following months of months of negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States on Wednesday.

Set to begin Sunday, it will consist of three phases including the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, as well as allow critical humanitarian aid to reach displaced civilians in Gaza.

The deal will also see the withdrawal of Israeli forces from most populated areas in the Palestinian enclave.

But Netanyahu delayed agreeing the deal Thursday because Hamas reneged on parts of the ceasefire agreement, NPR reported. He said the Palestinian armed group called for a “last-minute concession”, without specifying what that was. Israel earlier said Hamas was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners should be released in exchange for the Israeli hostages.

Hamas officials rejected Netanyahu’s accusations, saying that the group was “committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”

While the deal is now set to be agreed, pressure remains from Netanyahu’s far-right allies who oppose any deal with Hamas. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionist party warned Thursday that it would leave Netanyahu’s coalition if the agreement led to a permanent end of the war, according to the Financial Times.

The departure of far-right parties would spell the end of the ruling coalition and lead to early elections, which would likely end Netanyahu’s government, wrote Haaretz.

Even so, Netanyahu’s administration could operate as a minority government and potentially pass the deal with the help of opposition parties in parliament.

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies launched an attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw around 250 others kidnapped. About 400 Israeli soldiers have died during the war.

Israel’s response resulted in a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than 46,000 Palestinians killed to date, according to Gazan health officials. Research published in the Lancet medical journal this week estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war is about 40 percent higher than the estimates by Gazan health officials, the Guardian reported.

Since the ceasefire was signed, Israeli strikes have continued to hit Gaza, with almost 80 people killed in strikes on Gaza City overnight Thursday, Reuters reported.