Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a cabinet vote scheduled for Thursday to ratify the Gaza ceasefire deal, accusing Hamas of seeking last-minute changes to the deal.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “outstanding” matters were being resolved and he believed the ceasefire would still start as planned on Sunday.

Although Israeli negotiators agreed to the deal after months of negotiations, it can only be implemented with the approval of the security cabinet and government.

Hamas says it is committed to the deal, but the BBC understands it is seeking to add some of its members to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the deal.

after delay occurs Israel launches attack on Gaza after Wednesday’s announcement According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 80 people died as a result of the agreement.

Hours before Thursday morning’s meeting, Netanyahu accused Hamas of trying to “extort last-minute concessions.”

A statement from Hamas’s office said the cabinet would not meet until Hamas accepted “all elements of the agreement.”

Blinken said the delay was to be expected under such “challenging” circumstances.

“It’s not surprising that in such a challenging and fraught process and negotiations that you might encounter unresolved situations,” he told a news conference in Washington.

“We are resolving this outstanding issue as we speak.”

He said the United States was “confident” that the deal would go into effect as planned on Sunday and that the ceasefire would remain in effect.

Israeli media reported that the cabinet was expected to meet on Friday to approve the deal and that the alleged issues had been resolved, although this has not been officially confirmed.

Most Israeli ministers are expected to support the deal, but Security Minister Itamar Bengvir said late on Thursday that his right-wing party would quit Netanyahu’s government if the deal was approved.

“The agreement that is emerging is a reckless one,” Ben-Gewell told a news conference, adding that it would “eradicate the achievements of the war.”

However, he said his Jewish Power party would not seek to overthrow the government if the deal was approved.

He urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist party, the leader of another far-right party in the government, to join him in resigning.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the BBC that the group was committed to abiding by the agreement announced by the mediators.

The official told the BBC that Khalil Haya, the head of the Hamas delegation, formally informed Qatar and Egypt that they had ratified all terms of the agreement.

But BBC Gaza correspondent Rushdie Aboulouf understands that Hamas is trying to add the names of one or two token members to the list of prisoners released under the deal.

The first six-week phase of the deal will see 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israeli troops will also withdraw to the east, away from the densely populated areas of Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians will be able to start returning to their homes, and hundreds of aid trucks will be allowed into the territory every day.

The second phase of negotiations will begin on the 16th, when the remaining hostages will be released, Israeli troops will fully withdraw, and “sustainable calm” will be restored.

The third and final phase will involve the return of the bodies of all remaining hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza – which could take years.

Israeli airstrikes continued after the deal was announced on Wednesday. At least 12 people have died in Gaza City, with a doctor telling BBC staff “there was not a minute’s rest” during the “bloody night”.

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency said in a statement that 50 targets in Gaza had been struck since the deal was announced.

Qatar’s prime minister, who is mediating the talks, called on both sides to remain “calm” ahead of the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal.

Israel has launched a campaign to destroy Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and other countries, in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed approximately 1,200 people died, and another 251 people were killed and taken hostage.

Since then, more than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while aid agencies struggle to reach those in need.

Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. Four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.