At the last minute: Hamas demanding to cancel Israel’s right to veto

The Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday morning reported that the Hamas terror group is trying to backtrack after negotiators announced Wednesday that a ceasefire deal had been reached.

In an official statement, the Prime Minister’s Office detailed the issues Hamas is trying to backtrack on: “Among other things – in contradiction to the explicit section giving Israel the right to veto the release of mass murderers who are a symbol of terror, Hamas is demanding to dictate the identities of these terrorists.”

The statement comes hours after Qatar and the US officially announced that a deal had been reached.

Later on Thursday morning, the Prime Minister’s Office reported: “Hamas has reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions.”

“The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”

The Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, headed by Yaron Cohen, updated the families of the hostages that over the past few hours, Hamas has added demands that are in contradiction to the agreement reached with the negotiators.

“At this time, the details of the agreement have not yet been finalized and the negotiating team continues its efforts to find a solution,” the Directorate said in a statement. “Therefore, there is also not yet an official notice of success in the negotiations and the Cabinet meeting.”

The schedule for the next 24 hours is as follows:

* During the afternoon, the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet will meet with the heads of the defense echelon, including the leaders of the ISA and the Mossad.

* Following the meeting, a government meeting will be held to vote on the deal, in a vote which is expected to be tense, given the opposition of many ministers to the deal, as well as Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit to bolt the coalition.

* The Justice Ministry will publicize, after the deal is approved, the list of terrorists to be freed, in order to allow appeals to the Supreme Court.

The deal between Israel and Hamas will kick off a six-week period during which the IDF will gradually exit central Gaza and allow Gazans to return to their homes in northern Gaza.

Hamas will release 33 hostages, some alive and some dead; the terror group has refused to inform Israel of the hostages’ condition. In this first stage, civilian women and children who Hamas promised to release in the November 2023 deal will be released, alongside female IDF soldiers and men over the age of 50. Israel will release 30 convicted terrorists in exchange for every civilian hostage, and 50 convicted terrorists in exchange for every female IDF soldier.

By the end of the first stage of the deal, Israel will release all terrorists who are either female or under the age of 19, regardless of their convictions, who were arrested after the start of the war.

The first group of three hostages is expected to be brought to Israel on Sunday. On the seventh day of the deal, four hostages will be released. On the 14th and 21st days of the deal, three hostages will be released. On the 28th day of the deal, three more hostages will be released, on the 35th day, another three will be released, and in the last week of the deal, the remaining 14 “humanitarian” hostages will be released.

Hamas has received verbal guarantees from Qatar, Egypt, and the US that Israel will continue negotiations for the second and third stages of the deal beginning on the 16th day of the first stage. It is not clear how long these negotiations will take, and it is expected that Hamas will draw them out in order to extend the lull in the fighting and the period of increased humanitarian aid, both of which allow the terror group to rebuild itself and regain its power.