Live Updates: Disputes Hold Up Israeli Cabinet Vote on Cease-Fire Deal

On Thursday morning, the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement, without specifying which ones. Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the group was committed to the deal.

Mediators hope the deal — which would begin with a 42-day truce and the release of some hostages — will ultimately end the war that began with the Hamas-led attack in October 2023 in which 1,200 people in Israel were killed and 250 taken hostage. The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed tens of thousands of Gazans and forced nearly the entire population of the enclave to flee their homes.

Negotiators continued to work on the final details of the deal overnight, including lists of the Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for hostages in Gaza. And the fighting continued: Israeli strikes have killed more than 80 Palestinians over the past day, according to the Gazan health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In Israel, some hard-line members of Mr. Netanyahu’s government have opposed the deal. But if it comes to a vote it is expected to gain cabinet approval even without the support of the coalition’s two far-right parties, which do not command a majority in the cabinet.

In a statement, Hamas called the cease-fire deal an “achievement for our people” and commended Gazans’ resilience. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, again praised the Hamas-led attacks that prompted the war.

Here’s what else to know:

• The first phase: The cease-fire deal would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks. It would involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The New York Times.

• Tempered hope: Many Gazans reacted with hope mixed with sadness, exhaustion and fear. “How can we ever rebuild?” asked Suzanne Abu Daqqa, who lives near the southern city of Khan Younis. “Where will we even begin?” In Israel, the joy and relief that families of hostages expressed has been matched with anxiety that many could be left behind.

• A diminished Hamas: The nearly uninterrupted fighting in Gaza has left the militant group severely battered, with many of its military commanders killed, including its longtime leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service, said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 77 people since the deal had been announced. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes. The claims could not be independently verified.

“The reality in the strip remains very difficult and catastrophic,” said Mahmoud Basal, the rescue and emergency service’s spokesman.

Despite its isolation, however, Hamas remains the dominant Palestinian power in Gaza even after 15 months of Israeli bombardment, holding sway in displacement camps and refusing to surrender. Although many Palestinians have criticized the group’s decision to carry out the October 2023 attack — unleashing a war that has killed tens of thousands of Gazans and reduced cities to rubble — it has faced relatively little popular unrest.

Hamas has celebrated the provisional cease-fire agreement announced on Wednesday as an “accomplishment,” but its future role in Gaza remains uncertain.

The deal calls for an eventual “cessation of military operations and hostilities permanently,” but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has repeatedly suggested that that he will resume attacking Hamas after some hostages held by militants are released.

Yet if the full, multistage agreement is implemented, it could open the door to Hamas rebuilding its ironclad control over Gaza, or at least allow it to maintain an influential role in the territory. Analysts connected to Hamas believe that Israel will struggle to resume the war in the face of international pressure, and that Hamas will play a key role in the future of Gaza.

“Hamas will be present in every detail in Gaza,” said Ibrahim Madhoun, an analyst close to the militant group. “Trying to bypass Hamas will be like burying your head in the sand.”

Mr. Madhoun acknowledged that Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, had suffered losses, but said it was still “standing on solid ground” and had recruited new people to replace those killed. Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said this week that American officials had assessed that Hamas has brought in almost as many new fighters as it has lost in the war.

But if Israel decides to return to war, it could continue to weaken the group.

Resuming the war would not only be a disaster for the Palestinian people, but also Hamas said Tamer Qarmout, a professor of public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Under such a scenario, Mr. Qarmout said, Israel could find itself moving toward occupying Gaza, which may “cut off Hamas but antagonize everyone else in the public.”

Mr. Sinwar, originally from the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, is believed to hold a major role in directing the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, military analysts familiar with the group said.

While officially the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade, Mr. Sinwar holds outsized stature because of his association with his older brother. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s longtime leader, was one of the main masterminds of the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that prompted the war in Gaza.

The resulting Israeli military campaign has devastated the Gaza Strip. It has also greatly weakened Hamas’s fighting capabilities, killing thousands of fighters, eliminating key commanders and destroying parts of its underground warren of tunnels.

Hamas has not formally replaced Yahya Sinwar since his death at the hands of Israeli troops in October, nor has it replaced Mohammad Deif, the Qassam Brigades leader whom Israel says it also killed last year. Instead, a council of Hamas leaders who live abroad now oversee the group’s affairs.

Inside Gaza, no one commander has fully taken Mr. Deif’s place, said a Palestinian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. Mr. Sinwar mostly commands fighters in the south, while working with other militant leaders, like Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who command the north, the official said.

But despite the many blows it has taken, Hamas has nonetheless continued to fight, inflicting losses on Israeli soldiers. It has even managed to bring fresh fighters into its ranks, Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said this week.

“We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost,” Mr. Blinken said in a speech the day before negotiators reached the cease-fire deal in Qatar. “That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”

The cease-fire deal announced on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks, and involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The agreement requires Hamas to release three female hostages on Day 1, four more on Day 7 and 26 more over the next five weeks, according to a copy of the document obtained by The New York Times. The deal still has to be formally ratified by Israel’s cabinet.

Here’s a closer look at the hostage situation in Gaza.

How many hostages have already been released?

Early in the war, Hamas released four hostages — two Israeli-American women, Judith Raanan, then 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, then 17, and two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper, then 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, then 85, citing humanitarian reasons. More than 100 hostages were freed in November 2023 during a staggered truce between Israel and Hamas. In exchange, about 240 Palestinians held in Israel were released.

How many hostages have been rescued?

Eight hostages have been freed in Israeli military operations, including one in the first month of the war, when the military rescued one soldier, Pvt. Ori Megidish, then 19, who had been abducted from her base.

In February 2024, a military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah freed two hostages: Fernando Simon Marman, then 60, and Louis Har, then 70.

In June, the Israeli military freed four people kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023: Noa Argamani, then 26; Almog Meir Jan, then 22; Andrey Kozlov, then 27; and Shlomi Ziv, then 41. Ms. Argamani’s case received outsize attention after viral footage showed her being taken into Gaza on the back of a motorcycle as she cried out in desperation.

About 100 Palestinians were killed during the operation, according to the Israeli authorities, but officials in Gaza put the death toll at more than 270, including 64 children. (Neither toll distinguished between civilians and combatants.)

In August, the Israeli military rescued Farhan al-Qadi, then 52, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, in an operation that killed at least 20 Gazans, local authorities said.

How many hostages have died?

Of the 250 hostages, about three dozen were presumed dead early in the war, according to the Israeli authorities.

Some of their bodies have since been found in Gaza and repatriated, while other captives initially believed to be alive were subsequently declared killed.

The discoveries have raised questions about the extent to which intense Israeli military operations targeting Hamas have also endangered the captives.

The Israeli military has killed several hostages in error. In December 2023, the military said its soldiers had mistakenly shot and killed three hostages who fled their captors in Gaza: Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26, who were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; and Samer Talalka, 24, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am while at work.

Last July, Israel’s military retrieved the bodies of five hostages — two soldiers and three civilians, ages 20 to 56. They were found in a tunnel shaft in southern Gaza.

Israeli officials said the captives were killed during the October 2023 attack and their bodies taken as bargaining chips. The next month, Israeli forces said they had recovered the bodies of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel.

In September, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of another six hostages, ages 23 to 40, who it said had been killed in captivity. Among them was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American whose parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August.

In March, the family of Itay Chen — a 19-year-old American born in Israel who was serving in the Israeli military — said it had learned he was killed on Oct. 7, 2023.

In December, the family of Omer Neutra, 21, an Israeli-American serving in the Israeli military, said it had learned he, too, was killed that October. His parents spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.

This month, the Israeli military said Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne were dead. Youssef Ziyadne, 53, was taken hostage from a kibbutz with three of his children, including his 23-year-old son Hamza and two teenagers, Bilal and Aisha, who were freed during the truce in November 2023. The family is part of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority.

How many hostages are Americans?

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in a speech on Tuesday, said seven Americans were still being held captive.

Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen were believed to be alive as of December, according to the American Jewish Council.

A few of the remaining five were declared dead early in the war. Their bodies remain in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office said that Hamas had backed out of parts of the cease-fire deal, without saying what they were. It added that the cabinet would not meet to discuss the agreement until Israel had been notified that Hamas had accepted “all elements.”

Negotiators continued to work on the final details of the agreement overnight, including the identities of which Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for hostages in Gaza.

Some of Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition allies have said they opposed the cease-fire, calling it an effective surrender to Hamas. If they left the government in protest, that could weaken Netanyahu’s grip on power.

Each president had his own interest in settling the matter before Inauguration Day. For Mr. Biden, the deal, if it holds, represents a final vindication on his watch, what he hopes will be the end of the deadliest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while freeing Americans as well as Israelis from captivity. For Mr. Trump, the deal, for now, takes a major issue off the table as he opens a second term, freeing him to pursue other priorities.

The dramatic development, just five days before the transfer of power in the United States, cut against the natural grain in Washington, where presidents of opposing parties rarely work in tandem during a transition, even in the face of a major crisis. But the political planets quickly returned to their normal orbits as both sides argued over who deserved credit for resolving the standoff.

While Mr. Biden waited for official word to come from the region, Mr. Trump got the jump on him by disclosing the deal himself in an all-caps social media post. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” he added soon afterward.

By the time Mr. Biden appeared before cameras at the White House later in the afternoon, he was more gracious, noting that the two teams spoke with one voice. But he bristled when asked who merited credit, he or Mr. Trump. “Is that a joke?” he asked.

Still, the partnership, awkward and prickly as it was, stood out in an era of deep polarization. “It really is extraordinary,” said Mara Rudman, who was deputy special envoy for Middle East peace under President Barack Obama. “Everybody’s talking about who gets credit, but the fact is that it’s shared and part of the reason it worked is that it’s shared.”

That was not to say that it would lead to enduring synergy on this or other issues. “This was a case where the right thing to do aligned with people’s best political interest as well,” said Ms. Rudman, now a scholar at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

However credit is ultimately apportioned, diplomats, officials and analysts said it seemed clear that both presidents had played important roles. The deal that was finally agreed to was essentially the same one that Mr. Biden had put on the table last May and that his envoys, led by Brett H. McGurk, his Middle East coordinator, had worked painstakingly to make acceptable to both sides.

At the same time, Mr. Trump’s impending return to power and his blustery threat, that “all hell will break out” if the hostages were not released by the time he was sworn in, clearly changed the calculations of the warring parties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the beneficiary of so much support from Mr. Trump during his first term, could not take for granted that the new president would back him if he prolonged the war during his second term.

Indeed, it was telling that Mr. Netanyahu, who goes by the nickname Bibi, called Mr. Trump first to thank him after the deal was announced and only then called Mr. Biden. In a statement, Mr. Netanyahu emphasized his gratitude to Mr. Trump “for his remarks that the United States will work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a terrorist haven.” Mr. Biden was not mentioned until the fourth paragraph and only in a single sentence that thanked him “as well” for his assistance.

Mr. Trump’s desire to force a deal went beyond his trademark public threats and extended to constructive assistance on the ground. He authorized Steve Witkoff, his longtime friend whom he picked as special envoy for the Middle East, to work with Mr. McGurk to press negotiators to finalize the agreement. Mr. McGurk and his team were happy to have the help and use Mr. Witkoff’s support as leverage.

“This was Biden’s deal,” former Representative Tom Malinowski, Democrat of New Jersey, wrote on social media, “but as much as I hate to say it, he couldn’t have done it without Trump — not so much Trump’s performative threats to Hamas, but his willingness to tell Bibi bluntly that the war had to end by Jan. 20.”

There were some Republicans who were willing to praise Mr. Biden for his efforts to forge the agreement along with Mr. Trump. “It is good to see the Biden Administration and Trump Transition working together to get this deal done,” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote on social media.

Few transitions have seen such a moment of intersecting interests. In the throes of the Great Depression, the defeated President Herbert Hoover tried to engage President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt to team up to address a bank crisis, only to be rebuffed by an incoming leader who did not want to be tied to his predecessor.

A more eerily haunting example came 44 years ago, when President Jimmy Carter labored until the final hours of his presidency to free 52 American hostages being held in Iran without help from his successor, President-elect Ronald Reagan. In fact, some evidence has emerged suggesting that people around Mr. Reagan tried to discourage Iran from releasing the hostages before the election for fear that it would help Mr. Carter, although official investigations never verified that.

Mr. Carter ultimately struck a deal to free the hostages, but in a final insult Iran held back the planes with the Americans onboard until moments after Mr. Reagan was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1981. That memory was not lost on Mr. Biden’s team in recent weeks, especially after Mr. Carter’s death last month. Administration officials and their allies in recent days had been morbidly mulling the possibility of history repeating itself.

The coming change in political leadership in the United States was not the only factor driving the negotiations over the war in Gaza. The situation on the ground has changed dramatically since Mr. Biden first offered his cease-fire proposal in May.

In the interim, Israel has decapitated the leadership of Hamas, all but demolished its allied militia Hezbollah in Lebanon and taken out key military facilities in Iran. A Biden-brokered cease-fire in Lebanon left Hamas without a second front against Israel, further isolating it. And the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria only reinforced the weakness of Iran and its allies and proxies.

But the looming Inauguration Day in Washington created a new action-forcing deadline that was hard to ignore. Mr. Trump said little during the campaign about the war, but when he did he made it clear that he was not happy about it and urged Israel to wrap it up as soon as possible because the heart-wrenching pictures of death and destruction in Gaza were damaging Israel’s reputation on the international stage.

Moreover, Mr. Trump’s relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has evolved since his first term, when he presented himself as the Israeli leader’s staunchest ally. Mr. Trump cut aid to the Palestinians, moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli authority over the Golan Heights and presided over diplomatic openings between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors.

But their ties soured in Mr. Trump’s final year in office when he perceived Mr. Netanyahu to be taking advantage, and they deteriorated even further when the prime minister congratulated Mr. Biden on a victory in the 2020 election that Mr. Trump still denies. Mr. Netanyahu has worked assiduously in recent months to make up with Mr. Trump.

As for Mr. Biden, his own relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has been strained since the days soon after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack, when he flew to Israel and hugged the Israeli leader on the tarmac. Biden advisers and allies have suspected that Mr. Netanyahu was deliberately holding off on a cease-fire deal to hand the victory to Mr. Trump in an effort to kowtow to him.

Mr. Biden said nothing about that during his televised remarks on Wednesday. But after 15 months of trying to manage the Middle East crisis and head off a wider regional war, he appeared relieved to see an end coming.

“I’m deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war,” Mr. Biden said.

He referred to the collaboration with Mr. Trump without mentioning him by name. “I’d also note this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration,” Mr. Biden said, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. “But its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. These past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team.”

Asked about Mr. Trump’s role, Mr. Biden noted that the cease-fire was “the exact framework of the deal I proposed back in May” and claimed credit for giving Israel the backing it needed to weaken Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. “I knew this deal would have to be implemented by the next team,” he added, “so I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice because that’s what American presidents do.”

Mr. Trump made no mention of the role of his predecessor’s team and left the impression in his social media posts that he had delivered the agreement by himself.

“We have achieved so much without even being in the White House,” he wrote. “Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House, and my Administration is fully confirmed, so they can secure more Victories for the United States!”

“I didn’t stop believing for a moment!” she wrote alongside the image, which reads, “We are waiting for you!”

Alana Zeitchik, whose six family members were kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz as part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has experienced the joy of seeing family members return — and the anguish of having family members left behind.

“I know that feeling of relief, the miracle that it was to see them come home and have them alive,” Ms. Zeitchik said.

For families of hostages who might be released in the coming days, she said, “there’s this moment of relief for them,” adding, “but there’s anxiety and fear for my family who is still in this fight.”

Five of her family members — including cousin Sharon Alony Cunio and Ms. Alony Cunio’s young twin daughters, Emma Cunio and Yuli Cunio — were released during the 2023 exchange. But David Cunio, Sharon’s husband and Emma and Yuli’s father, has remained in captivity.

The cease-fire, which is set to begin on Sunday, will include three phases, according to Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar, whose country played a key role in mediating negotiations over the last year. The first of those phases will include the release of 33 hostages over the course of 42 days.

The deal is similar to a proposal that was publicized by President Biden in late May, according to several officials familiar with the talks. Under that plan, Hamas would release women, older men and ill hostages in the first phase, in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

That was cause of celebration for loved ones of those who might be included in the first stage.

That includes the family of Liri Albag, a 19-year-old Israeli woman who was taken hostage on Oct. 7. Just over a week ago, Hamas released a short video of Ms. Albag, an Israeli soldier who had served in a unit of lookouts at Nahal Oz, a military base near the Gaza border.

Today, advocates for Ms. Albag shared an old photo of her hugging her father.

“Liri is returning to her father’s arms!!” the post read.

The exaltation has been matched with trepidation among hostage families, especially those who have male relatives held captive.

Across social media, posts of celebration have been accompanied by various slogans calling for the return of all 100 people thought to still be in Gaza: “Until the last hostage,” “Leave no one behind,” and “All of them.” About 35 of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.

There are concerns that the deal might collapse at any time, and that Hamas and Israel might not be able to successfully negotiate the remaining phases, leaving some groups of hostages — especially younger men — still in Gaza.

Ms. Zeitchik and her family are hoping the American government pressures Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to ensure that the deal is finalized.

“We don’t trust Bibi and his far-right extremist coalition to really protect us and save our people,” she said, using a nickname for the prime minister. “We are really relying on the American government to ensure that the Israeli leadership does what is right by all of the hostages, and by the people of Israel.”