ISRAEL was accused of stalling on the crucial ceasefire agreement with Hamas today, as at least another 78 people were killed by the IDF’s continued killing spree in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “last-minute crisis” with Hamas today was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited pause to fighting in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages. 

Mr Netanyahu began signalling that there were issues with the deal just hours after US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete. 

President-elect Donald Trump was also quick to claim credit for the deal.

Israel and Hamas will reportedly exchange captives as Israeli troops pull out of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in a three-stage deal beginning on January 19. 

It is basically the same framework that Hamas, Israel and the US had all agreed to in May 2024.

But Mr Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of backtracking on an understanding in the deal that he said would give Israel a veto over which Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for Israeli hostages.

It emerged today that Mr Netanyahu was coming under pressure to reject the deal from far-right members of his coalition. 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already come out against the deal. Another, Bezalel Smotrich, posted on X late on Wednesday that he was demanding absolute certainty that Israel can resume the war later, calling the current deal “bad and dangerous” for Israel.

It remains unclear whether Mr Netanyahu has been able to secure cabinet approval for the deal that would see scores of hostages held in Gaza released and a pause in fighting, with a view to eventually winding down a 15-month war that has destabilised the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said his cabinet would not meet to approve the deal until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions, without elaborating.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said: “There is no basis to Netanyahu’s claims about the movement backtracking from terms in the ceasefire agreement.” 

Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said the group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy failed to respond to questions from MPs in the House of Commons today from a number of MPs, including independent Ayoub Khan and the SNP’s Brendan O’Hara, who demanded to know what the government would do if Israel failed to agree the ceasefire deal.

Mr Lammy also came under pressure to follow up any ceasefire with a British recognition of a Palestinian state.

But he gave no indication of any early move in that direction.  

Labour MP Tahrir Ali bluntly told Mr Lammy that “I do not believe you are going to recognise a Palestinian state in the lifetime of this parliament — prove me wrong.”

And John McDonnell, presently an independent, also urged Palestinian recognition, saying Mr Lammy should set out the criteria to judge when the time is right.

Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn said that “there can be no peace for the Palestinian people while they are under occupation,” demanding international recognition of the state of Palestine.

Fellow independent Shockat Adam also told MPs that “no justice or meaningful peace can be achieved if we continue to allow the cries of the oppressed to go unheard.”

Whipless Labour MP Zarah Sultana demanded a straight answer from Mr Lammy over whether the international arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu would be implemented if he set foot in Britain. But Mr Lammy preferred to equivocate in legalistic generalities.

He was clearer in joining independent Iqbal Mohamed and others in opposing Israeli annexations in the West Bank as obstructing the possibility of a two-state solution.

The SNP’s Stephen Flynn warned that neither those who engaged in collective punishment of Palestinians nor those who aided Israel would be forgotten by history.

Internationally, Raed Jarrar, advocacy director for US human rights group Dawn, insisted that any ceasefire agreement “does not mean that Israeli war criminals who orchestrated this genocide are off the hook and we will continue to demand accountability for their crimes.

“The international community should also hold US officials in the Biden administration accountable for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity with their ongoing support of Israel’s war machine.”

Communist Party of Britain international secretary Kevan Nelson agreed: “The governments who provide unconditional military and political support to the Netanyahu regime are complicit with this state terrorism,” he said.

CND general secretary Sophie Bolt said: “Stopping the horrific slaughter of Palestinians is critical. This ceasefire is a huge breakthrough and we must do everything possible to secure it. Hundreds of thousands are on the brink of starvation and need urgent medical attention.

“There must also be justice for the Palestinian people. This means recognition of the State of Palestine. It means holding Israel to account for genocide, as well as the US as its key backer, and all countries, including Britain, that have been complicit.

“We must also work to ensure that this ceasefire isn’t a pause before Trump gives military backing to greater Israeli expansion across Syria and towards a confrontation with Iran.”

At least 78 Palestinians were killed by heavy Israeli bombardment in Gaza today as people took to the streets to celebrate what they thought was a ceasefire deal. 

In previous conflicts, the Israelis have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires.

In the run-up to the November ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel targeted heavy bombing raids on the capital Beirut just hours before the truce was due to take effect.

“We were expecting that the occupation would intensify the bombing, like they did every time there were reports on progress in the truce negotiations,” said Mohammed Mahdi, who fled his home a few months ago and is sheltering in Gaza City.

Ahmed Mattar, who lives near the city’s al-Ahly hospital, said he heard massive air strikes overnight.

“Yesterday was a bloody day and today is bloodier,” said Zaher al-Wahedi, head of Gaza Health Ministry’s registration department.

Journalists near the border with Gaza reported hearing more air strikes and artillery fire today.

At least 20 people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Jabalia city in northern Gaza, with many others trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings and others sustaining critical injuries.

Victims included at least 12 in a residential block that came under Israeli attack in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, the ministry reported.

A doctor in Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital reported how staff “did not rest for one minute” during the bloody night of Israeli bombardment.

Dr Amjad Eliwah told the BBC how “the injured kept on coming. The dead were sent directly to the morgue.”

He said as news came through of the ceasefire agreement “for a little while everyone was happy and joyful.

“Then the same people who were happy were dead.”

Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida said one Israeli attack had “targeted a place where one of the female prisoners of the first stage of the expected deal was located. 

“Any aggression and bombing at this stage by the enemy could turn a prisoner’s freedom into a tragedy.”

The ministry says the death toll in Gaza has now topped 46,000, with more than 110,000 injured by Israeli attacks.

This comes after the Israelis launched a deadly retaliation for the attack by Hamas on October 7 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage.