CAIRO (AP) — The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT), mediator Qatar announced Saturday, as families of hostages held in Gaza braced for news of loved ones, Palestinians prepared to receive freed detainees and humanitarian groups rushed to set up a surge of aid.
But in a national address 12 hours before the ceasefire was to start, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was treating the ceasefire as temporary and retained the right to continue fighting if necessary. He claimed he had the support of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who told NBC News that he told the prime minister to “keep doing what you have to do.”
Netanyahu also asserted that he negotiated the best deal possible, even as Israel’s far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he and most of his party would resign from the government in opposition to it.
The prime minister earlier warned that a ceasefire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as agreed. Israel had expected to receive the names from mediator Qatar. There was no immediate response from Qatar or Hamas.
The overnight approval of the ceasefire deal by Israel’s Cabinet, in a rare meeting during the Jewish Sabbath, set off a flurry of activity and a fresh wave of emotions as relatives wondered whether hostages would be returned alive or dead. Families and thousands of others rallied once more Saturday night in Tel Aviv.