Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a Gaza ceasefire deal has been signed in Doha yet delays threaten to derail the process. The Israeli cabinet will meet on January 18 to vote on the agreement but political division leaves the future of the agreement to end 15 months of war hanging in the balance.
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00:00This is the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, pounding at least 50 targets in the
00:05enclave just hours after a ceasefire deal with Hamas was announced.
00:11Over 77 people were killed, days before a long-negotiated truce is set to take place.
00:31Negotiators in Doha have signed the deal set to begin on the 19th of January, that's after
00:36Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a cabinet meeting to ratify it,
00:41citing Hamas-seeking amendments, claims that Hamas has denied.
00:45I hope that such statements from Netanyahu's office will not be an attempt to evade the
00:53commitment to a ceasefire agreement.
00:57But the signing of the deal is not the final step.
01:00The Israeli cabinet still needs to approve it, or it could face more delays.
01:05Their vote is now set for Saturday the 18th of January, leaving the future of the war
01:09hanging in the balance as division emerges within the Israeli government.
01:14Benjamin Netanyahu's national security minister and his allies have threatened to quit if
01:18the deal, he called reckless, is pushed through.
01:21If the war in Hamas is resumed, and that's what I said just a few moments ago to the
01:26Prime Minister, if the war is resumed in the name of the resolution and implementation
01:32of the war goals, we, from our side, will again offer it to the government.
01:38They're pushed to halt the agreement backed by some Israelis, who blocked a road in Jerusalem
01:43in protest of the proposed deal.
01:46Negotiated with input from Egypt, Qatar and the US, the deal would see the release of
01:5033 Israeli hostages taken to Gaza after Hamas' October 7th attack on Israel.
01:56Under its terms, many Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel would be returned to Gaza
02:01and aid would be allowed to flow into the Strip.
02:04Without their loved ones over the past 15 months of war, the families of Israeli hostages
02:09renewed their calls for the government to pass a deal at a rally in Tel Aviv.
02:13And we're really, really waiting for the approval, the official approval that the deal is signed
02:20and it can go on.
02:22And on Sunday, we will see hostages here in Israel.
02:26US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he remains optimistic the six-week ceasefire
02:32will go ahead.
02:33I am confident and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday.
02:38So, it's not exactly surprising that in a process, in a negotiation that has been this
02:46challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end.
02:52We're tying up that loose end as we speak.
02:54Hope shared by many world leaders and jubilant crowds across the globe that welcomed the
02:59news of the truce.
03:00But with political turmoil still unsettled within Israel, there could be further delays
03:05to end the fighting in Gaza, leaving the hostages, their families and embattled Palestinians
03:11waiting anxiously with their futures on the line.
03:14Ryan Woo and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.