A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is in limbo after a crucial cabinet vote by the Netanyahu government was postponed.
The multi-stage deal was announced on Wednesday evening, local time, by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
Less than a day later, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a cabinet vote to officially approve the agreement, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, had been delayed.
Mr Netanyahu accused Hamas of walking back its commitment to the deal.
Hamas officials have insisted they support the agreement.
Israeli media later reported the cabinet would convene on Friday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said mediators were "tying up" any outstanding issues on Thursday.
Several Israeli news organisations are reporting internal divisions within the Netanyahu government may be a factor behind the delay.
The deal was negotiated in recent days between Israel and Hamas officials in Doha, with Qatar, Egypt and the United States acting as mediators.
Representatives from the incumbent Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration attended.
The first phase of the deal would last 42 days, and was expected to begin on Sunday.
It would see 33 Israeli hostages and approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released, and the Israeli military establish an 800-metre buffer zone within Gaza.
In that six-week period, negotiations would begin towards a second phase that would see all remaining hostages released and further prisoner releases.
US President Joe Biden said a third and final phase of the deal would see major reconstruction begin in Gaza and a permanent end to the war.
Mr Biden said the deal was proposed by his administration but would be upheld and implemented by Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday.
The current war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking a further 251 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Roughly 100 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza.
Israel's subsequent ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Since the announcement of the deal on Wednesday, Israel's military says it has struck roughly 50 targets in Gaza.
A spokesperson for Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said one of the strikes hit a location where a female hostage was being held.
The spokesperson did not disclose the fate of the hostage.
ABC/wires
