Israel and Hamas cease-fire agreement faces last-minute crisis

• Israel and Hamas reached an agreement Wednesday on a deal meant to halt 15 months of fighting.
• The White House confirmed that a cease-fire agreement was in place.
• But on Thursday, Netanyahu's office said there was a "last-minute crisis."

After more than 15 months of fighting, and with tens of thousands dead, the White House announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a cease-fire.

Israel's cabinet was expected to vote on whether to ratify it on Thursday, but the meeting was delayed after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of creating a "last-minute crisis."

"Hamas has reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions," David Mencer, a spokesperson for Netanyahu's office, said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

The agreement, a major breakthrough in the Middle East conflict, is meant to halt the bloodshed and facilitate the release of some of the remaining hostages.

"At long last, I can announce a cease-fire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas," President Joe Biden said Wednesday afternoon.

In a written statement, he said the deal would stop the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite hostages with their families.

On Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told NBC's "Today" that the US was aware of the issues raised by Israel over the deal, but added: "We're going to get there."

On October 7, 2023, as part of a Hamas-led terror attack against Israel, Hamas and other militants kidnapped 251 people from Israel and killed around 1,200 across the country.

Hamas and its allies still hold 98 hostages, an Israeli government spokesperson said Tuesday, though at least 34 of them are thought to have died in captivity.

The deal, if formally approved, is set to include multiple phases.

The first stage is expected to include 33 hostages — most of whom are alive — released on "humanitarian" grounds, an Israeli spokesperson told reporters at a briefing. This will consist of women, children, older people, as well as hostages who are sick.

When asked how many Palestinian prisoners Israel was willing to release in exchange, the spokesperson said that the country "is prepared to pay a heavy price, in the hundreds."

The Israeli military confirmed that it's preparing for the return of the hostages. On Wednesday, Qatar's prime minister said the deal would go into effect Sunday.

Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had told reporters that the first phase of the deal included a full cease-fire. If ratified, it's expected to last six weeks and includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza.

A second phase, which is still being worked out, would see a "permanent end" to the war, Biden said.

The president added that this phase would include the release of the remainder of the living hostages, with the rest of the Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza.

In the third phase, any remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan would be set in motion for Gaza.

To date, 117 hostages have been returned alive to Israel, including 105 freed as part of a prisoner exchange in November 2023.

The cease-fire deal intends to end the brutal conflict, which has seen large areas of Gaza destroyed and left the militant group severely battered. The Hamas-run health ministry says Israel's military offensive in the coastal enclave has killed more than 46,000 people. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Negotiations for a cease-fire deal have been ongoing for many months, but news that Israel and Hamas were close to reaching an agreement emerged earlier this week, hinting that, at last, there could be movement.

President-elect Donald Trump said his victory in November directly contributed to the deal coming to fruition. "We have achieved so much without even being in the White House," he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.