Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says deal to release Hamas-held hostages has been reached

The announcement of deal to return Hamas-held hostages in the Gaza Strip has been reached came a day after Netanyahu's office said there were last-minute snags in talks to free hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners

Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a deal to return Hamas-held hostages in the Gaza Strip has been reached. The announcement came a day after Netanyahu’s office said there were last-minute snags in talks to free hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu said he will convene his security cabinet on Friday and then the government to approve the agreement. Israel delayed a Cabinet vote Thursday on the long-awaited ceasefire deal 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.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed a last-minute dispute with Hamas for holding up the approval as rising tensions in Netanyahu’s government coalition raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after US President Joe 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 the Cabinet vote on the agreement that had been scheduled for Thursday 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,” Netanyahu’s office said.