Secretary of State Tony Blinken is “confident” the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal will be implemented on Sunday, he told reporters Thursday morning. 

His comments came hours after the deal’s progress was cast into doubt following a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that Hamas had reneged on parts of the agreement.

“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” said Blinken. “It’s not exactly surprising that in a process, a negotiation that has been this challenging, this fraught, that we get a loose end. We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”

Blinken said he had spoken earlier that morning with White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk and Qatari leaders to move ahead on the deal. 

According to Netanyahu’s office, Hamas wanted to revoke Israel’s veto power over releasing from prison certain “mass murderers who are symbols of terror.” A scheduled Thursday morning meeting of Israel’s cabinet to vote on the deal was postponed.