The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday morning that Hamas is making a last-minute attempt to back out of the deal announced by US and Qatar leaders on Wednesday.

An official statement issued by the PMO’s office early Thursday morning stated; “Prime Minister Netanyahu held a conference call with the negotiation team in Doha, who reported to him on last-minute attempts by Hamas to backtrack from understandings.”

“Among other things – contrary to an explicit clause that grants Israel veto power over the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terrorism – Hamas is demanding to dictate the identities of these terrorists. The Prime Minister instructed the negotiation team to stand firm on the agreed-upon understandings and to reject outright Hamas’s last-minute attempts at extortion.”

Meanwhile, the members of the war cabinet, who were scheduled to convene on Thursday morning to vote for the deal, have not yet been called to a meeting.

A message sent to the families of the hostages by Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons, stated: “Dear families: In recent hours, Hamas has added demands that contradict the agreement with the negotiators. As of now, the details of the agreement have not yet been finalized and the negotiation team continues its efforts to reach a solution. Therefore, there is no official announcement yet regarding the negotiations’ success and a cabinet meeting has not yet been scheduled. We will continue to update you as much as possible.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)