The Israeli cabinet will meet to give approval to a deal with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

Netanyahu's office said Thursday his Cabinet won't meet to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas backs down from what it called a "last minute crisis."

But as the fighting in Gaza paused this week, three young Israeli women were released from captivity and dozens of Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel, the agreement, however tenuous, has held.