killing more than 70 people since the deal was announced. lam in i am in hostages square in tel aviv with the loved ones of those held in gaza wait nervously to see if they are coming home. a teenager is found guilty of murdering 15—year—old elianne andam in south—east london in september 2023. britain and ukraine's leaders sign a 100—year agreement — aimed at strengthening defence ties between the two countries. and blue origin's new glenn rocket — funded by amazon boss jeff bezos — has successfully launched from cape canaveral and reached orbit for the first time.

hello, i'm annita mcveigh. you're watching verified live on bbc news. a meeting of the israeli cabinet expected to give final approval for the gaza ceasefire deal has been delayed with israel accusing hamas of backtracking on parts of the agreement. there are reports hamas is trying to get one or two symbolic prisoners to be included on the list of palestinian prisoners to be freed. on the israeli side, a far right party in the governing coalition has demanded that israel ensures it can resume fighting as soon as the first phase of the ceasefire ends. some mps are threatening to pull out of the government. but first let's cross now to my colleague mark lowen in tel aviv. any update on when the israeli cabinet meeting might be taking place? he cabinet meeting might be taking lace? ., , ., ., place? no news on the timing or whether it _ place? no news on the timing or whether it will _ place? no news on the timing or whether it will happen _ place? no news on the timing or whether it will happen today. - whether it will happen today. still the line of the israeli government, the prime

minister's office, that hamas is reneging on the deal, a sign ofjust how difficult it is to get this over the line. 15 months into a war that has killed more than 16,000 people in gaza according to the local health officials, and in which 98 people make israelis, are still hostage in gaza. this is hostages square in tel aviv which has represented the trauma of the israeli since the hostages were taken on the 7th of october, you can see people gather every day on this square and there are protests against the government, calling for a deal to bring the hostages home. there are encampments and there is a simulation of a hamas tunnel over there, representing the tunnels they have built through gaza smuggling weapons and holding many hostages inside those tunnels. it is the trauma that israelis were hoping and are

still hoping that will be alleviated by the ceasefire deal that was due to come into place on sunday but it has not been approved or voted on by the israeli cabinet yet. the spokesperson for the israeli government, david mencer, has given an update to the media. translation: let me begin by telling you that as of this morning, the prime minister's office has made clear that hamas have reneged on this hostage release agreement and has created a last minute crisis — in an effort to extort last minute concessions. as such, the israeli cabinet cannot meet to agree this deal. it cannot convene until the mediators notify israel that hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement that were already agreed. families of our hostages have been informed today that hamas has added further demands that contradict the agreement with the mediators.

as of this time, the details of the agreement have not yet been finalised and the negotiation team is continuing its efforts to reach a solution. that is a representative of the israeli government. the bbc has spoken to hamas which says it is still committed to the ceasefire deal which has been welcomed by governments across the world. my colleague jon donnison reports now on the latest developments — and a warning his report does contain some upsetting images. celebration and relief in gaza last night as news of the deal came through. survival. a victory in itself. translation: we are very happy about the agreement. it gives us hope for gaza's future. the agreement guarantees that no more lives will be lost — after experiencing genocide, this agreement means saving lives.

the end of the war brings us an indescribable joy. but this morning, the reality that the killing hasn't stopped yet. at the baptist hospital in gaza city, they were bringing in the dead and the injured. at least 80 people, including 19 children, have been killed in israeli strikes since the agreement was announced, according to officials in gaza. still, amid the destruction, hope that the worst might be over. "enough is enough," says 14—year—old ahmed. "it's better for us to go back to our homes and sit on the rubble than deal with death every day." but not everyone is happy with the agreement. injerusalem today, outside the prime minister's office, there were protests from israelis who say the war shouldn't stop until hamas is wiped out.

this deal is expected to be approved by the israeli government this afternoon. but it's divisive. these people, many of them the family members of fallen israeli soldiers, want prime minister netanyahu to pull out. don't vote for that deal, that deal, it's a very dangerous deal. that deal is going to leave behind us in gaza strip, about 70 hostages. but as they marched in protest, some were watching who say it's now time to bring the hostages home. ronnie merits has been on a partial hunger strike for 120 days to pressure the government to do a deal. every war ever were ending by an agreement. you cannot destroy the enemy.

you cannot kill the last soldier. you need to stop and make an agreement. and i agree that this is a deal with the devil but i don't think that we have any other option. but despite the protests, given the way the world has welcomed news of the agreement, it will be difficult for prime minister netanyahu to back out now. you heard a sense of the you heard a sense of the opposition from some hostage opposition from some hostage families to the ceasefire deal. families to the ceasefire deal. there is also opposition from there is also opposition from two far right parties within two far right parties within israel, one of them led by the israel, one of them led by the finance minister, in fact. finance minister, in fact.

ohad tal is a member of the israeli parliament — the knesset — for the religious zionism party. he has this response to a potential deal. of course, we will not support the deal. we believe that this is a bad deal. it's a bad deal because first of all, it contradicts two goals, the two goals of the war. one of them was to return, to bring back home all the hostages. this deal only brings back about a third of them and leaves behind the vast majority of the hostages. this is why it's a bad deal. it also keeps hamas in power, which we promised to eradicate hamas. eradicating hamas is notjust an israeli interest. it's something that serves the best interests of all the countries in the region. it serves the interests of the egyptians, the saudis, the emiratis, the jordanians. it serves the interests of america. of the world, of everybody who doesn't want to see this

radical terror organisation keep destabilising the entire region and the entire world. so, yes, we have to make sure that any deal will be such that it will allow us to to complete both missions, both goals of the war and this deal, this current deal is not doing that. and this is why we will of course be against the deal.

does that make any sense? not only are they not not going to get their loved ones. we are giving away every leverage that we have over hamas that will allow us to bring these 65 hostages. a member of a far right religious party in israel, and the destruction and death in gaza also continues with reports on the guards at civil defence authority that more than 70 people have been killed in the hours since the ceasefire deal was approved —— reports from the gaza civil defence authority. we are expecting a press conference from antony blinken. he only has three and a half days left in hisjob until the trump administration moves in. the biden administration hoping they can get the deal over the line before they leave office.

it would be a coup for the incoming trump administration with donald trump already taken credit for putting pressure on both sides to get a deal over the line but we are still waiting for an update from the israeli cabinet as to when they are going to meet to approve the deal. we will bring you the news conference from washington when it happens, but now i will hand you back to the studio in london. alon pinkas, former israeli diplomat and previously advisor to israeli prime minister shimon peres, gave us his analayis of the agreement. this deal is complex, even if there's goodwill on all sides, which apparently there isn't. so its complex to implement. it's brittle, it is very precarious. and the fact that it even didn't start and already you have these

grandstanding statements, each side accusing the other each side accusing the other of violating the terms of violating the terms of the deal or trying of the deal or trying to undermine the deal to undermine the deal is hardly surprising. is hardly surprising. it's depressing, but it's it's depressing, but it's not really surprising. not really surprising. what is really happening what is really happening here is that mr netanyahu here is that mr netanyahu is caught between... is caught between... we now have antony blinken. i we now have antony blinken. i spoke about the work that we do spoke about the work that we do to keep the american people and to keep the american people and the work we do, and how we get the work we do, and how we get you to inform the world, you to inform the world, through you and with you. we through you and with you. we have travelled miles together have travelled miles together we have done this with a we have done this with a remarkable group of people who remarkable group of people who i have gotten to know as i have gotten to know as colleagues, and if i said colleagues, and if i said france, that might create france, that might create problems for you, but i will problems for you, but i will say how much i appreciate the say how much i appreciate the partnership and the partnership and the professionalism —— and if i professionalism —— and

said friends.

partnership and the professionalism partnership and the rofessionalism ~ , taking questions. why did you allow the holocaust _ taking questions. why did you allow the holocaust of - taking questions. why did you allow the holocaust of our - taking questions. why did you | allow the holocaust of our time to happen? _ allow the holocaust of our time to happen? how— allow the holocaust of our time to happen? how does - allow the holocaust of our time to happen? how does it- allow the holocaust of our time to happen? how does it feel. allow the holocaust of our time to happen? how does it feel to| to happen? how does it feel to have _ to happen? how does it feel to have your— to happen? how does it feel to have your legacy— to happen? how does it feel to have your legacy be _ to happen? how does it feel to have your legacy be genocide? i have your legacy be genocide? thank— have your legacy be genocide? thank you _ have your legacy be genocide? thankyou ihp— have your legacy be genocide? thank you. i'm happy- have your legacy be genocide? thank you. i'm happy to - have your legacy be genocide? thank you. i'm happy to take l thank you. i'm happy to take any questions about anything, as we have done these past four years. i will talk a bit about the developments of the last few days as well but i first want to say thank you to each of you and also thank you... but also to a remarkable press team here led by matt miller who do the work every day of trying to make sure that you are informed, the american people are informed. let me also take a step back before

diving into the developments of this week, these last days, to consider how far we have come in the past four years. and to think about where we might be going from here. when president biden took office us faced the worst public health crisis in more than a century. he faced the worst economic crisis since the worst economic crisis since the great depression. an unprecedented breaches with allies and partners around the world. we saw a historic opportunity to work together and to challenge our interests and to challenge our interests and global standing and to challenge the international system of rules and principles, in which our security and prosperity depend. the first time i had an opportunity to speak at length in this role i laid out how we would work to the average american diplomacy to safeguard and accelerate america's renewal and how we would reimagine and revitalise our greatest strategic asset, our greatest strategic asset, our unmatched network of allies

and partners, and to deliver on issues that matter in the lives of our citizens, to their livelihoods, and in their futures, and to defend against increasingly assertive authoritarian powers. and how we would modernise our own diplomacy to try to deliver on these priorities, to make sure that this department is ready to meet the tests that are more complex and more combustible. as president biden emphasised, thanks to historic investments at home and around the world, the us can now operate from a position of greater strength to tackle these challenges. our adversaries and competitors are weaker and our strategy of renewal has set the stage for america to win this fierce competition and to shape a new era of international affairs to the benefit of our people and those around the world, this week was another reminder of the power and the of american leadership and american

diplomacy. over 15 months of devastating conflict between israel and hamas, we have worked to broker a deal that would bring hostages home but would bring hostages home but would stop the fighting and surge of humanitarian aid to people who need it and to create the space to have a permanent ceasefire. we now have that and we expect implementation of the agreement to begin on sunday. as president biden said yesterday, after more than 400 days of struggle, a day of success has arrived. i want to thank our fellow mediators for their extraordinary partnership and i want to thank my colleagues, in particularjake sullivan, bill burns, for their remarkable skill, tireless dedication over these many months of negotiation.— these many months of neuotiation. ~ , negotiation. will you recognise the geneva _ negotiation. will you recognise the geneva convention? - negotiation. will you recognise the geneva convention? i'm i the geneva convention? i'm ha - the geneva convention? i'm happy to — the geneva convention? i'm happy to answer _ the geneva convention? happy to answer questions the geneva convention?“ happy to answer questions when i get the chance, i will do

that in a moment, thank you. this is a moment of tremendous relief for israelis and palestinians. the daughter of one hostage spoke for many when she said, i cannot wait to see them come back to their families, i'm so desperate to see them. a mother of five said simply, we are being reborn. it is also a moment of possibility for the region and beyond. it is going to take tremendous effort, political courage and compromise to realise that possibility and to make sure the gains that have been achieved at the last 15 months and excruciating cost are actually enduring, to manage the risks and to deliver on the promise of a more integrated middle east. and simply put, to forge the reality there are two immediate imperatives, to fully implement the ceasefire deal

first of all and then second, to finalise a plan, effective plan, as i spelt out, that provides for the plan, as i spelt out, that provides fo