Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Hours after the outgoing US President Joe Biden announced a “ceasefire deal” between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, at least 70 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes amid a ceasefire deal delay, the media reported on Thursday.
Israel airstrikes killed at least 70 people in Gaza overnight and on Thursday, hours after a prospective ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to bring an end to 15 months of war between the Jewish state and the Sunni terror group Hamas which has devastated the Gaza Strip and triggered a humanitarian crisis since October 7, 2023.
The ceasefire deal is yet to be formally agreed, with Israel’s security cabinet delaying a planned Thursday morning meeting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said “Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel to extort last-minute concessions. The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”
The US, Egypt, and Qatar worked throughout 2024 trying to mediate an end to the war sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.
On Thursday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of backtracking on some details of a Gaza ceasefire deal, holding up its approval by the Israeli government. His statement comes a day after the US and Qatar announced the deal, which would pause the devastating war in Gaza and clear the way for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity.
Earlier, Qatar confirmed that the ceasefire in Gaza will begin on Sunday (January 19) and 33 Israeli hostages will be released in the first phase of the truce.
During months of on-off talks, the two sides have previously said they were close to a ceasefire only to hit last-minute obstacles.
The war on Gaza broke out after Hamas orchestrated the deadliest-ever invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians. Hamas also took 251 people hostage from Israel, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
In response, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The fighting has left much of Gaza in ruins and displaced most of the enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
The talks between the two sides hit a last-minute snag on Wednesday. Israel claimed that Hamas tried to “change agreed-upon understandings for security arrangements” along Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, who has been mediating the Gaza ceasefire, met separately with Hamas and Israeli delegations.