Gvir, has threatened to resign from the government if it ratifies the ceasefire deal. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lead a vote for the ratification of the deal on Friday morning. The national security minister said the deal was “irresponsible” and “reckless”.

Sunday’s delayed start to the truce was a minor problem compared with the difficult choices and American leverage needed to get both parties to the second phase, which could end the war.

Even before it was signed, the Gaza ceasefire forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a tight spot - between a new U.S. president promising peace and far-right allies who want war to resume.

Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Donald Trump at the White House next week, the US and Israel have confirmed. The Israeli Prime Minister and US President will meet on February 4 amid a fragile six-week ceasefire that has brought a temporary pause to 15 months of fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an agreement to free hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been finalized.

Witnessed and recorded by an NBC News crew in Gaza, the fighters' presence at a crossing deemed vital for keeping Hamas from going into the north of Gaza raises big questions about one of Israel’s stated objectives in launching the war: eliminate the militant group behind the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history.

The release was delayed by a chaotic scene in which a crowd of Palestinians surrounded and jeered at hostages as they were turned over to the Red Cross.

In a speech as Israel awaited the release of the first hostages on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu said both president Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the president-elect, had promised him Israel had the right to resume the fighting “in new ways and with very great power” if Hamas violated the deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he plans to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Netanyahu would be traveling to Washington to meet with him.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a potentially disastrous showdown within the next month that could shake his hold on power, unless he manages to deter the strongly held positions of the foreign and domestic politicians and political forces on which he is dependent.