Israel’s cabinet postpones key vote to Gaza ceasefire to January 18

Israel’s cabinet has postponed a key vote on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal until Saturday, with a smaller security cabinet vote scheduled for Friday, according to a report by CNN.

As per an Israeli official, the full cabinet vote on the agreement is now expected to take place on Saturday. However, the smaller security cabinet will meet on Friday to vote on the deal.

Notably, the meeting was originally planned for Thursday.

Earlier, the leader of the opposition Yair Lapid responded to the threat made by a coalition party to quit the government if the deal is approved.

In a rough translation of a post on X, Lapid wrote, “I say to Benjamin Netanyahu, don’t be afraid or intimidated, you will get every safety net you need to make the hostage deal. This is more important than any disagreement we’ve ever had.”

Israel’s Minister of National Security and far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir strongly criticised the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, calling it “reckless.”

He said that the deal would undermine the achievements of the war and emphasised that if the deal is approved, his party, Otzma Yehudit, will quit the government.

In a rough translation of a post on X, he wrote, “The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal. It includes the release of hundreds of murderous terrorists, the return of thousands of terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip, a withdrawal from the Philadelphia axis, and a cessation of fighting, and thus the deal will effectively erase the achievements of the war.”

He added, “Not only that, it does not lead to the release of all the hostages, it leaves the fate of the remaining hostages who are not included in the deal uncertain, and it will lead to an end to the war when Hamas has not yet been defeated, with a significant ability to rebuild itself. Therefore, if this reckless deal is approved and implemented, the Otzma Yehudit party will not be part of the government and will withdraw from it.”

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have killed 86 and injured 258 since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson from Gaza’s Civil Defence.The daily death toll in the period immediately after the ceasefire announcement is the highest in over a week. The dead include 23 children, spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in his Thursday press release, CNN reported.