Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military not to begin the ceasefire in Gaza, scheduled to start at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) until Hamas issues the names of the captives to be released, his office said.

“The prime minister instructed the IDF that the ceasefire, which is supposed to go into effect at 8:30 am, will not begin until Israel has the list of released abductees that Hamas has pledged to provide,” his office said in a statement on Sunday.

In a statement shortly afterwards, Hamas blamed the delay in handing over the names on “technical field reasons.” It said that it is committed to the ceasefire deal announced last week.

Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Amman, said there was “so much international pressure” on both Hamas and Israel  it would be “very difficult” to see how the ceasefire, particularly in the the first phase, does not go ahead.

“Will there be some delays potentially at this point in time? I’m pretty sure Qatar will be putting incredible pressure on Hamas, if indeed these names haven’t yet been handed over, to do so,” she said.

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“But Hamas has reiterated it is committed to the cease fire, and then it will hand these names over as soon as they can.”

More to come…