Ceasefire falters as Israeli airstrikes ravage Gaza Strip
At least 73 people, including 21 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. According to Al Jazeera, the airstrikes intensified after the announcement of a ceasefire. However, 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 quickly became apparent that Israel had no intention of halting the airstrikes.
Hamas announces the death of a hostage
According to Al Jazeera, celebrations were interrupted by heavy waves of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. "Many attacks occurred in the city of Gaza, with most 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, an 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 first phase of the ceasefire agreement. The statement warned that any Israeli "aggression or bombing at this stage" could turn the potential freedom of prisoners "into tragedy."
Netanyahu cancels government meeting
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pursued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes against Palestinians, canceled the government meeting where the agreement with Hamas was to be approved.
The decision may have been motivated by the Palestinian side's demand to choose the prisoners to be released, reports the "Times of Israel."
The portal informed that the government believes Hamas "demands the right to choose among these murderers," contrary to the negotiated agreement. Meanwhile, according to the draft agreement seen by the portal, prisoners to be released would be "from a list accepted 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 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 "for the entire 42-day first phase." The army will remain in place in the same numbers, although it will be "divided" differently between posts, patrols, observation points, and control units - he explained.
On the 16th day of the agreement's enforcement, negotiations on ending the war will begin, the diplomat conveyed. And if "Hamas does not agree to Israel's demands, the army will remain in the corridor on the 42nd and 50th days as well."
According to a copy of the draft agreement obtained by the editorial team, Israel, during the first phase, will gradually reduce the army's presence in the corridor according to the attached maps and the agreement of the parties. However, on the 42nd day, "the army will begin withdrawing (from the corridor), which will conclude no later than the 50th day."
According to the draft agreement, during the first stage, Palestinian 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 around 700 metres 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 are released.
On the 16th day of the first phase, talks would begin on the second phase, during which Hamas and its allied groups would release the remaining 65 hostages.
On 7 October 2023, terrorists led by Hamas kidnapped 251 hostages from Israel. 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, and Hamas still holds 94 hostages.
Hamas's attack was met with a brutal and bloody reaction from Israel, whose army razed the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly 47,000 people have been killed, including 18,000 children.
