Israel continues airstrikes on Gaza even after ceasefire agreement is announced

Israeli government airstrikes continue in the Gaza Strip ahead of a cease-fire agreement and hostage agreement with Hamas that comes into effect on Sunday, which is subject to approval by the Israeli Cabinet.

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency reported that 73 people were killed overnight in attacks that followed the announcement of the agreement.

According to the Ministry of Health, the victims included 12 people who lived in a residential area in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district.

The Israel Defense Forces initially said a “fallen projectile” had been seen in southern Israel on Thursday, but later said it had been mistakenly identified.

Israel has previously launched airstrikes in preparation for a cease-fire agreement, most recently in Lebanon, with heavy bombing of the capital Beirut hours before the November cease-fire.

A doctor at Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital said staff “did not rest for a minute” during the “bloody night”.

“We kept getting injured,” Dr. Amjad Eliwa told the BBC. “The deceased was directly sent to the morgue.”

“For a while, everyone was happy and happy,” he said after receiving the news of the ceasefire.

“And those same people who were happy died.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to ratify the Gaza ceasefire agreement in parliament on Thursday, but Netanyahu’s office said Hamas had “violated” parts of the agreement, creating a “last-minute crisis”. claims.

It added that the cabinet would not be convened until Hamas accepted “all elements of the agreement”.

A senior Hamas official told the BBC that the Hamas movement remains committed to the agreement announced by the mediator and that the head of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Khayya, has formally confirmed to Qatar and Egypt that it approves all terms of the agreement. He said he had been notified.

Two hard-line right-wing ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have long threatened to leave the coalition government if a ceasefire is reached.

This could lead to new elections in Israel, but observers say their resignations will not preclude a deal if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants it to happen.

Qatar’s prime minister, who brokered the negotiations, called for “calm” from both sides before the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement begins.

The deal will see 33 hostages, including women, children and the elderly, exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east, away from the densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

Displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, and hundreds of aid trucks will eventually be allowed into the territory each day.

Negotiations for the second phase, aimed at the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a return to “sustainable peace”, are scheduled to begin on the 16th.

The third and final stage, which involves returning the remains of the remaining hostages and rebuilding Gaza, could take several years.

Achim Steiner of the United Nations Development Program told the BBC’s Newsday program that rebuilding Gaza would be a major challenge given the massive destruction caused by the war.

He said 40 million tons of “toxic” debris would need to be removed before Gazans could return to where their homes once were.

“This is a very complex business that we are facing right now,” he said.

Banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and others, Israel responded to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. A campaign has been launched to annihilate Hamas. .

More than 46,788 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.

Most of the population of 2.3 million people have also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while aid agencies are struggling to get aid to those in need. are.

Israel has announced that 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, and 34 of them are presumed dead. In addition, four Israelis were abducted before the war, two of whom died.