Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed a planned cabinet vote on the ceasefire deal - accusing Hamas of backtracking on some of the details. Hamas insists it's committed to the agreement.
Jonathan Regev reports from Tel Aviv.
#Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Netanyahu
Jonathan Regev reports from Tel Aviv.
#Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Netanyahu
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NewsTranscript
00:00No new developments, the cabinet meeting is not convening, the ministers have not been summoned, and there's no news whatsoever.
00:09The cabinet meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. local time, that is seven hours ago.
00:15Just about an hour prior to that, the statement came out of the prime minister's office saying that Hamas is adding new demands.
00:23The statement called it blackmail by Hamas, and the statement also added that until there are guarantees from the mediators
00:32that Hamas will agree to the terms that were agreed upon last night, then the cabinet will not be convening and there will not be any move forward.
00:42Nothing has changed so far, and we have to understand that this may have implications regarding the implementation of the deal,
00:49because there are three different processes that have to happen here in Israel.
00:52First is approval by the cabinet, then approval by the government, and then a window of 48 hours for appeals will open,
01:01and only then will Israel officially approve the agreement.
01:06If we're looking at the deadline set by Qatar, which is 12.15 p.m. local time on Sunday, that is less than 72 hours to go.
01:16So if Israel wants to go through all these different processes, things have to begin soon.
01:21So far, it is not happening.
01:23We're hearing optimistic messages coming from American mediators, even from Israeli officials,
01:28saying that yes, there are obstacles, but they will eventually be put aside and the deal will go forward.
01:36It may happen, but if everybody is hoping that the implementation will begin on Sunday,
01:42if this delay goes on and on, it might have also implications on the beginning of the implementation phase.
01:50And if it gets to that cabinet vote stage, can Netanyahu get it passed,
01:55even if his right-wing coalition partners don't want to vote for it?
02:03Netanyahu will get the necessary majority, both in the cabinet and in the government.
02:09It's true that there are six ministers, three from the Religious Zionism Party and three from Jewish Power Party,
02:15the two far-right parties that oppose the deal,
02:18but there are 28 other ministers who will probably vote for the agreement in government.
02:24Therefore, there's no issue of the agreement being accepted or not.
02:29The big question is what will happen in parliament later on.
02:34Bezalel Smotrich said that his party will back the government only for the first phase of the agreement,
02:41this 42-day phase, but then after that first stage, Smotrich said that unless Israel goes back into fighting,
02:48he and his party will leave the government.
02:50That, of course, is completely contradictory to what is meant to be the second stage of the agreement,
02:57which will see the Israeli army withdrawing altogether and the war coming to an end.
03:02So the agreement, will it pass in cabinet? Will it pass in government?
03:07Everything seems to be indicating that the answer to that is yes.
03:10What will happen after that? A very big question.