By Andrew Mills, Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip should start on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a “loose end” at the last minute, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Israel delayed holding a cabinet meeting to ratify the ceasefire with Hamas, blaming the militant group for the hold-up, even as Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza with airstrikes which Palestinian authorities said killed 77 people in the day since the truce was unveiled.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said the group remained committed to the ceasefire deal, scheduled to take effect from Sunday to halt 15-months of bloodshed.
“It’s not exactly surprising that in a process and negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end,” Blinken told a news conference in Washington. “We’re tying up that loose end as we
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