Dozens killed as Israeli strikes continue ahead of Gaza ceasefire 11 hours ago Ruth Comerford BBC News Joel Gunter BBC News Reporting from Jerusalem Israeli air strikes are continuing in Gaza ahead of the ceasefire agreement and hostage deal with Hamas, which comes into effect on Sunday, subject to the Israeli cabinet’s approval.
The strikes killed 73 people overnight, following the announcement of the deal, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency reported.
Israel has previously launched air strikes in the run-up to ceasefire arrangements taking effect, most recently in Lebanon, where heavy bombing hit the capital, Beirut, just hours before the ceasefire there in November.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to ratify the Gaza ceasefire agreement in parliament on Thursday, but his office alleges Hamas has “reneged” on parts of the agreement, prompting a “last-minute crisis”.
The prime minister of Qatar – which mediated negotiations – has called for “calm” on both sides before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal.
Israeli strikes continue ahead of a ceasefire in Gaza, killing dozens.
11 hours prior.
Comerford (Ruth).
the BBC News.
Joel Gunter.
BBC News.
reporting from Jerusalem. .
The ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, which is pending approval by the Israeli cabinet, will take effect on Sunday, but Israeli airstrikes are still occurring in Gaza.
After the agreement was announced, the strikes killed 73 people overnight, according to a report from Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency.
According to the health ministry, 12 residents of a residential block in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood were among the victims.
After claiming that “a fallen projectile” had been located in southern Israel on Thursday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later acknowledged that the identification was incorrect.
The last time Israel carried out airstrikes before ceasefire agreements went into effect was in Lebanon, where heavy bombing struck the capital, Beirut, just hours before the ceasefire in November.
Employees at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City “did not rest for one minute” during the “bloody night,” according to a doctor there.
At the BBC, Dr. Amjad Eliwah said, “The injured kept on coming.”. “The deceased were taken straight to the mortuary. “.”.
After hearing about the ceasefire, he claimed that “for a little while, everyone was happy and joyful.”.
When that happened, the same joyful people had passed away. “.
The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency said in a statement that 50 targets had been struck in the last day.
The statement added that Israel’s forces had killed a man who was allegedly involved in the October 7 Hamas attack overnight.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to ratify the ceasefire agreement in Gaza in parliament on Thursday, but according to his office, there has been a “last-minute crisis” because Hamas has “reneged” on some of the concessions.
It further states that until “all elements of the agreement” have been approved by Hamas, the cabinet will not meet.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC that his movement was dedicated to the deal that the mediators had announced and that Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of its delegation, had formally notified Egypt and Qatar that it approved of all the terms of the deal.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, both hardline right-wing ministers, have long threatened to leave the government coalition if the ceasefire is approved.
Their resignations won’t stop the deal from happening if Netanyahu wants it to, observers say, but that might lead to new elections in Israel.
Prior to the commencement of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, the prime minister of Qatar, which served as the mediator, has urged “calm” on both sides.
33 hostages—including women, children, and the elderly—will be traded for Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons as a result.
Additionally, Israeli forces will move eastward, away from Gaza’s crowded neighborhoods.
At last, hundreds of aid trucks will be permitted daily entry into the region, and displaced Palestinians will be permitted to start going back to their homes.
The second phase of negotiations will begin on the sixteenth day and should see the release of the remaining hostages, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, and a return to “sustainable calm.”.
Rebuilding Gaza and returning any remaining hostages’ bodies will be the third and last step, which could take years.
Given the enormous damage caused by the conflict, Achim Steiner of the United Nations Development Programme told the BBC’s Newsday program that rebuilding Gaza would be extremely difficult.
Before Gazans could return to their homes, he said, 40 million tons of “toxic” debris had to be cleared out.
“We are now confronted with a very complex undertaking,” he stated.