Israel-Hamas truce deal for hostage release hits last-minute snag, now expected to start on Friday

An agreement for a four-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of dozens of Hamas-held hostages and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel appeared to have hit a last-minute snag when a senior Israeli official said it would not take effect until Friday, a day later than originally announced.

The diplomatic breakthrough promised some relief for the over 1.7 million Palestinians who have fled their homes under weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones captured during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, announced the delay late Wednesday, without providing a reason. Israeli media reported that some final details were still being worked out.

Qatar, which played a key role in mediating with Hamas, said early on Thursday that a new time for the agreement to go into force would be announced "in the coming hours.” It was originally set to begin at 10 am (0800 GMT) Thursday. The US and Egypt also helped negotiate the deal.

The agreement had raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, now in its seventh week, which has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank, and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a nationally televised news conference that the war would resume after the truce expires, with the goal of destroying Hamas' military capabilities, ending its 16-year rule in Gaza and returning all of the estimated 240 captives held in Gaza by Hamas and other groups.

"The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said, adding that he had delivered the same message in a phone call to US President Joe Biden. Washington has provided extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel since the start of the war.

If implemented, the deal temporarily freezes both sides at a tenuous moment.

Israeli troops hold much of northern Gaza and say they have dismantled tunnels and much of Hamas’ infrastructure there. Israeli forces on Wednesday revealed what they said was a major Hamas hideout in a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital.

The territory's largest medical center has been at the heart of a fierce battle of narratives over both sides' allegedly reckless endangerment of civilians.

Still, Israeli officials acknowledge that much of Hamas' infrastructure remains intact, and have threatened to launch wider operations in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people who fled the north have crammed into overflowing UN-run shelters with dwindling food, water and basic supplies.

Associated Press