Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, gather calling for their release in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The party of Israel’s hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says its Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations from the government on Sunday in opposition to the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The departure of the Jewish Power party from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not bring down the coalition or affect the ceasefire. But Ben-Gvir’s departure destabilizes the coalition.
The deadline for the start of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip passed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had not lived up to its commitment to provide the names of the three hostages it was set to release later on Sunday in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.
Celebrations erupted across the war-ravaged territory, and some Palestinians began returning to their homes, even as the delay underscored the fragility of the agreement. The deal sets in motion a long and uncertain process aimed at ultimately ending the war and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered it.
The names of the three hostages had not been handed over when the deadline for the truce to begin passed at 8:30 a.m. local time, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top Israeli military spokesman, said. He said the army “continues to attack, even now, inside the Gaza arena," and would until Hamas complies with the agreement.
The military later said it had struck a number of militant targets in northern and central Gaza. Gaza's Health Ministry said at least three people were killed early Sunday in Gaza City, in the north of the territory.
Hamas blamed the delay in handing over the names on “technical field reasons.” It said in a statement that it is committed to the ceasefire deal announced last week.
An Israeli official said mediators have provided assurances that the list will be delivered and the deal is still expected to go forward, though the timing remains in question. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing efforts to resolve the matter.
Meanwhile, Israel announced that it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier who was killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, in a special operation. The bodies of Shaul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, remained in Gaza after the 2014 war and had not been returned despite a public campaign by their families.
Delay underscores fragility of the agreement
The planned ceasefire, agreed after a year of intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, is the first step in a long and fragile process aimed at winding down the 15-month war.
Netanyahu said he had instructed the military that the ceasefire “will not begin until Israel has in its possession the list of hostages to be freed, which Hamas committed to provide.” He had issued a similar warning the night before.
The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see a total of 33 hostages returned from Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released. Israeli forces should pull back into a buffer zone inside Gaza, and many displaced Palestinians should be able to return home. The devastated territory should also see a surge in humanitarian aid.
This is just the second ceasefire in the war, longer and more consequential than the weeklong pause over a year ago, with the potential to end the fighting for good.
Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the six-week first phase and how the rest of the nearly 100 hostages in Gaza will be freed.