Israeli airstrikes defy ceasefire, leave Gaza in turmoil
At least 73 people have been killed, including 21 children, in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. According to Al Jazeera, the airstrikes intensified following the announcement of a ceasefire. In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not call a government meeting to vote on the agreement.
When Qatar announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, thousands of people took to the streets of the devastated Gaza Strip to celebrate the agreement. However, it soon became evident that Israel had no intention of halting the airstrikes.
Hamas announces the death of a hostage
According to Al Jazeera, the celebration was disrupted by a heavy wave of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. "Many attacks occurred in the city of Gaza, with most of the casualties being women and children. The attacks also targeted the Al-Mawasi evacuation zone. Among the dead are at least 20 children and 25 women," the station reports.
- Those who survived the 15-month war hoped for a ceasefire, but in the last minutes, we witnessed many lives lost - recounts Hani Mahmoud, Al Jazeera correspondent.
On Thursday afternoon, Hamas announced that an Israeli attack had targeted an area where an Israeli prisoner was being held, intended for release in the initial phase of the ceasefire agreement. The statement warned that any Israeli "aggression or bombing at this stage" could transform the potential freedom of prisoners "into tragedy."
Netanyahu cancels government meeting
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pursued by the International Criminal Court for war crimes against Palestinians, cancelled the government meeting where the agreement with Hamas was to be approved.
The decision may have been influenced by the Palestinian side's demand to choose the prisoners to be released - reports the "Times of Israel."
The portal indicated that the government believes that contrary to the negotiated agreement, Hamas was "demanding to dictate the identity of these murderers." Meanwhile, according to the draft agreement seen by the portal, prisoners to be released would be "based on lists agreed upon by both sides." In Israeli prisons, individuals convicted of murder and deadly attacks are serving sentences.
Agreement between Israel and Hamas
Another point of contention may have been the issue of the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, assessed by a "senior diplomat" with whom the portal spoke. The Philadelphi Corridor is a border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
The diplomat explained that Israeli forces would remain in the corridor "throughout the entire first stage, all 42 days." The number of troops deployed there will remain the same, the official said, "but will be distributed in a different manner, including outposts, patrols, observation points and control along the entire route."
On the 16th day of the agreement's enforcement - the diplomat conveyed - negotiations regarding the war's end will begin. And if "Hamas does not agree to Israeli demands to end the war, Israel will remain in the Philadelphi Corridor also on the 42nd day and also the 50th day."
According to a copy of the draft agreement obtained by the editorial team, Israel "will gradually reduce the forces in the corridor area during stage 1 based on the accompanying maps and the agreement between both sides." However, on the 42nd day, "Israeli forces will begin their withdrawal and complete it no later than day 50."
According to the draft agreement, during the first stage, Palestinian terrorist groups would gradually release 33 kidnapped hostages. Israel would also start the gradual withdrawal of forces from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip, including the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which is a road cutting through this territory from north to south. The withdrawing forces would relocate to the border area, extending approximately 700 metres (or 2,300 feet) deep into the strip.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Strip would be opened for the wounded and civilians once all kidnapped women from Israel had been released.
On the 16th day of the first stage, talks would begin on the second stage, during which Hamas and its allied groups would release the remaining 65 hostages.
On October 7, 2023, terrorists led by Hamas kidnapped 251 hostages from Israel. Of these, 105 were released during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023, four were released earlier, and eight were rescued by the army.
The bodies of 40 hostages were found in the strip. Hamas still holds 94 hostages.
Hamas's attack was met with a brutal and bloody reaction from Israel, whose army razed the Gaza Strip to the ground. Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly 47,000 people have been killed, including 18,000 children.
