
Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri announced on Thursday at the annual Shas conference in Jerusalem that Israel and Hamas have overcome the obstacles on the path to implementing the hostage deal.
"A few minutes ago I received a final message that they overcame all the obstacles and the deal is underway. Now they are dealing with the final technical wording. I want to congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu, he's responsible for the deal," Deri stated.
After that, a diplomatic source confirmed the statements and said that the Security Cabinet will convene most probably on Friday, followed by the Cabinet to approve the deal.
Earlier on Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office reported that the Hamas terror group is trying to backtrack from parts of the deal.
In an official statement, the Prime Minister's Office detailed the issues Hamas is trying to backtrack on: "Among other things - in contradiction to the explicit section giving Israel the right to veto the release of mass murderers who are a symbol of terror, Hamas is demanding to dictate the identities of these terrorists."
The statement comes hours after Qatar and the US officially announced that a deal had been reached.
Later on Thursday morning, the Prime Minister's Office reported: "Hamas has reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions."
"The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement."