Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza after the announced ceasefire agreement

Israeli airstrikes are continuing in Gaza ahead of the ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, which comes into effect on Sunday, subject to approval by the Israeli cabinet.

The attacks killed 73 people overnight, after the deal was announced, the Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency said.

The victims included 12 people who lived in a residential block in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, the health ministry said.

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

Israel has already launched airstrikes in preparation for ceasefire agreements coming into effect, most recently in Lebanon, where heavy bombing hit the capital, Beirut, just hours before the ceasefire in November.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to ratify Gaza ceasefire agreement in parliament on Thursday, but his office says Hamas has “reneged” on parts of the deal, prompting a “last-minute crisis”.

He adds that the cabinet will not meet until Hamas has accepted “all the elements of the agreement.”

A senior Hamas official told the BBC that his movement was committed to the agreement announced by the mediators and that the head of its delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, had officially informed Qatar and Egypt of his approval of all the terms of the agreement.

Two hard-right ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have long threatened to quit the governing coalition if the ceasefire goes through.

That could trigger new elections in Israel, but his resignation will not block the deal if Netanyahu wants it to happen, observers say.

Qatar’s prime minister – who mediated the negotiations – called for “calm” on both sides before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement.

This will see 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east, away from densely populated Gaza area.

Displaced Palestinians will be allowed to start returning to their homes and hundreds of aid trucks will finally be allowed into the territory every day.

Negotiations for the second phase – which should see the remaining hostages released, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and a return to “lasting calm” – will begin on the 16th.

The third and final stage will involve the return of the bodies of the remaining hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take years.

Achim Steiner from the United Nations Development Program told the BBC’s Newsday program that rebuilding Gaza would be a huge challenge, given the massive destruction inflicted by the war.

He said 40 million tons of “toxic” rubble had to be removed before Gazans could return to where their homes were.

“This is a very complex undertaking that we now face,” he said.

Israel has launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and others – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people are were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. .

More than 46,700 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas territory’s health ministry.

Most of the population of 2.3 million have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and there are serious shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, while aid agencies struggle to get help to those who they need

Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. In addition, there are four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.