Netanyahu says Gaza ceasefire won’t begin without hostage names

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that a newly brokered ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip won’t begin if the Palestinian militant organization fails to provide a list of the names of three hostages due to be released on Sunday.

The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip agreed by Israel and Hamas was set to come into effect at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) on Sunday morning.

On Saturday evening Netanyahu had said that, without the list of hostage names, Israel would not continue to implement the agreement ratified by his government earlier in the day.

On Sunday, the Times of Israel cited Netanyahu’s office as saying that the prime minister held a security assessment overnight regarding the delay and that Netanyahu had instructed the military that the ceasefire “will not begin until Israel has the list of hostages to be released, which Hamas has pledged to provide.”

According to Israeli reports, Hamas cited “technical reasons” for the delay.