Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Hamas has backtracked on an earlier understanding of the ceasefire agreement, which is awaiting the approval of the Israeli government.
The Israeli prime minister said the group was objecting to part of the agreement which would give Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners would be released, he said.
Image: Palestinians stand among the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
“Among other things – contrary to a specific clause that grants Israel the veto power over the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terrorism, Hamas is demanding to dictate the identities of these terrorists,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
It said Mr Netanyahu has told Israeli negotiators to stand firm on the earlier agreement. Hamas is yet to respond.
Any deal will need to be approved by Mr Netanyahu’s security cabinet and then his government.
Since the agreement has been announced at least 32 people have been killed in heavy Israeli bombardment in Gaza, medics reported.
Strikes continued into Thursday morning, flattening houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza and in northern Gaza, local residents said.
The ceasefire deal does not come into force until Sunday.
The announcement comes after weeks of painstaking negotiations in Doha against the backdrop of a war in Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and many more injured and displaced from their homes.
Much of the densely-populated territory has been razed to the ground as Israel launched a ground offensive following the Hamasattacks on 7 October 2023 which left 1,200 people dead and around 250 people taken hostage.
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15 months of the Gaza war explained
What’s in the deal?
The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase that includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of Palestinians to north Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an official briefed on the agreement.
Hamas will release 33 hostages, including all women, children and men over the age of 50, the agency said.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel will free between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every female Israeli soldier that Hamas releases.
There will also be a surge of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza as part of the agreement, which requires 600 aid trucks to be allowed into Gaza each day.
Negotiations over a second phase of the agreement are to begin on the 16th day of phase one and are expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including male Israeli soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
A third phase is expected to include the return of the bodies of the dead hostages and the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
Finally, after 467 days of fighting, a ceasefire agreement has been approved.
Within minutes, there were celebrations in Gaza. Palestinians were cheering on the streets of Khan Yunis, a city that is barely standing after 15 and a half months of war.
In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where weekly demonstrators calling for a deal have brought parts of the city to a standstill, there is now an outpouring of hope and relief that their loved ones might be home soon.
The deal will need to be approved by the Israeli security cabinet, expected to meet on Thursday – despite opposition from some far-right politicians, it should pass.
The Supreme Court in Jerusalem will be given the opportunity to hear objections relating to the Palestinian prisoners who will be released in the deal – that should be a relatively swift process and is unlikely to hold up the deal.
But the hard yards are complete, the two sides are in agreement and an end to this long war is finally in sight.
Shortly after the ceasefire deal was announced, Hamas’ acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address that Israel failed to achieve its goals in the Palestinian territory.
He also vowed Hamas will neither forgive nor forget Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.