STORY: :: Blinken says negotiators are resolving a
'loose end' in the Gaza ceasefire deal
:: January 16, 2025
:: Washington, D.C.
:: Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State
"On the ceasefire, yes, I am confident and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said on Sunday. Look, it's not exactly surprising that in a, a process, in a negotiation that has been this challenging, this fraught, you may get a loose end, we're tying up that loose end as we speak. I've been on the phone, in one way or another all morning with, Brett McGurk, with our Qatari friends, and I'm very confident that we - this is moving forward and we'll see the start of implementation of the agreement on Sunday."
Israel said it had delayed holding a cabinet meeting on Thursday to ratify a ceasefire with Hamas, blaming the militant group for the hold-up, as Palestinian authorities said Israeli airstrikes overnight had killed 77 people in Gaza.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal, agreed a day earlier, that was scheduled to take effect from Sunday to bring an end to 15-months of bloodshed.