Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire deal that is expected to deliver a temporary halt to the fighting in the Gaza Strip and secure release of the hostages who have been in the hands of the

After months of on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, there is hope that the remaining details of the ceasefire deal will be resolved within hours and could go into effect on Jan.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the delay was because of concerns that Hamas was attempting to renege on elements of the deal — an accusation that an official in the group Izzat al-Rishq denied, The New York Times reports.