The Israeli cabinet is scheduled to meet on Friday (Jan 17) to discuss and ratify the recently agreed ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to a report by ABC News citing a senior Israeli official.

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Axios also reported, quoting an Israeli official, "The Israeli cabinet is expected to convene on Friday morning and approve the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal."

During a briefing on Thursday, outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about his confidence in the implementation of the ceasefire. “On the ceasefire, I am confident,” he said. “I fully expect that implementation will begin … on Sunday,” he added.

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Blinken admitted that negotiations had been “challenging” and that there might be unresolved issues, saying, “You may get a loose end. We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”

"We’re tying up that loose end as we speak. I’ve been on the phone in one way or another all morning with [White House Middle East adviser'] Brett McGurk, with our Qatari friends, and I’m very confident that we will [see this] moving forward, and that we’ll see the start of the implementation of the agreement on Sunday," he added.

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Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the cabinet would not meet to approve the deal until Hamas withdrew demands for last-minute concessions. Reuters quoted Netanyahu’s office saying, “Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel 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.”

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Hamas, however, rejected these claims. A senior Hamas official confirmed to Reuters that the group had not backed out of the ceasefire agreement mediated on Wednesday and remained committed to it.

This back-and-forth has caused confusion among families of hostages, who are awaiting the return of their loved ones.

(With inputs from agencies)