By Andrew Mills, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip should start on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a “loose end” at the last minute, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Israel delayed holding a cabinet meeting to ratify the ceasefire with Hamas, blaming the militant group for the hold-up, even as Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza with airstrikes which Palestinian authorities said killed 77 people in the day since the truce was unveiled.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal, scheduled to take effect from Sunday to halt 15-months of bloodshed.
“It’s not exactly surprising that in a process and negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end,” Blinken told a news conference in Washington. “We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the last remaining dispute was over the identities of some prisoners Hamas wanted released.
President Joe Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk and President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff were both in Doha with Egyptian and Qatari mediators working to resolve the issue, which should be cleared up soon, the official said.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told reporters Israeli negotiators were in Doha to reach a solution.
The complex ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. to stop the war that began with deadly Hamas attacks on Israel and saw Israeli forces kill tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastate Gaza.
The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. Hostages taken by Hamas would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
It paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the majority of the population has been displaced, facing hunger, sickness and cold. Rows of aid trucks were lined up in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish waiting to cross into Gaza, once the border is reopened.
Peace could also have wider benefits across the Middle East, from heading off war between Israel and Iran to ending disruption to global trade from Yemen’s Houthi movement which has attacked ships in the Red Sea.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the security cabinet and government. A vote had been slated for Thursday, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed the meeting, accusing Hamas of making last-minute demands.
“The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Hardliners in Netanyahu’s government were still hoping to stop the deal, though a majority of ministers were expected to back it. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s party said its condition for remaining in the government would be a return to fighting at the end of the truce’s first phase. Far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has also threatened to quit.
In Jerusalem, some Israelis marched through the streets carrying mock coffins in protest at the ceasefire, blocking roads and scuffling with police.
CALLS FOR FASTER IMPLEMENTATION
Palestinians who rejoiced at the deal’s announcement were desperate for the bombing to stop as soon as possible.
“We lose homes every hour. We demand for this joy not to go away, the joy that was drawn on our faces – don’t waste it by delaying the implementation of the truce until Sunday,” Gazan man Mahmoud Abu Wardeh said.
The day after the truce announcement saw some of the most intense Israeli bombardment for months. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 81 people had been killed over the past 24 hours and about 188 injured. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said at least 77 of those were killed since the ceasefire announcement.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the military was looking into the reports.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
If successful, the ceasefire would halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed over 46,000 people, and displaced most of the tiny enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million, according to Gaza authorities.
The first phase would see the release of 33 hostages from among around 98 still in Gaza – alive and dead. Israel would free around 1,000 Palestinian detainees.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Jana Choukeir, Clauda Tanios and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai; additional reporting by James Mackenzie and Emily Rose, Howard Goller, Ramadan Abed, Steve Holland and Alexander Cornwell; Writing by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Georgy; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Toby Chopra)
