Times of Israel
In his first public comments on the ceasefire agreement made in a 10-minute pre-recorded video released Saturday evening, Netanyahu called the first stage of the hostage release deal merely a ‘temporary ceasefire,’ and stressed that Israel would return to fighting in Gaza if the next stages of the deal are not realized.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on X: ‘As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 19, local time in Gaza. We advise the inhabitants to take precaution, exercise the utmost caution, and wait for directions from official sources.’ The IDF in a statement also confirmed the ceasefire’s start time.
Israel had been expecting to receive the names of the first three hostages to be released on Sunday by Saturday evening. Officials said Hamas was to give the names to the Qataris, who would then inform Mossad Chief David Barnea, who was then expected to inform the families.
On Saturday night, however, the Prime Minister’s Office claimed that Israel had still not received the list of names, in violation of the deal’s terms.
‘We will not move forward with the outline until we receive a list of the hostages to be freed, as agreed,’ the PMO said in a statement. ‘Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. The sole responsibility lies with Hamas.’
A source within Hamas claimed to the Ynet news site that the delay in handing over the names was due to ‘technical reasons.’
According to the source, Hamas operatives communicate ‘physically via emissaries and it takes time to agree on the names and the location of the hostages when IDF planes are still above them.’
‘The list will only come out after the approval of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar,’ the source added.
The agreement, which was signed in Doha early Friday and ratified by Israel early Saturday, states that Hamas is required to provide the names of the hostages at least 24 hours ahead of their release.
The first three hostages to be released on Sunday will be civilian women from the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the 42-day first phase of the Israel-Hamas deal, according to Israeli officials.
The Palestinian prisoners to be freed in exchange for the three hostages will not be released before the first hostages are expected back in Israel. Some 95 prisoners are to be released in exchange for the three Israeli women.
In exchange for all 33 hostages, Israel will, by the end of phase one, hand over up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murders.
In his video address, Netanyahu said Israel will not rest until ‘all of its war goals are completed,’ which includes the return of every single hostage being held in Gaza. He added that the US had promised Israel would have the weaponry it needed to return to fighting if necessary, and said Israel would do so ‘in new ways and with very great power.’
‘In the agreement approved just now, we will get back another 33 of our brothers and sisters — most of them alive,’ he said early in his video statement, making no initial mention in his remarks of the further potential phases of the deal, under which the remaining 65 hostages are to be released and a permanent ceasefire instituted in Gaza.
Netanyahu said the deal was the result of Israel resisting pressures from outside and within, and of cooperation with the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration.
‘Both President Trump and President Biden gave full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel concludes that the negotiations on the second phase are going nowhere,’ he specified.