Israel strikes in Gaza kill at least 70 after ceasefire accord, residents say
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Damaged buildings pictured in Gaza City on Jan 16, ahead of a ceasefire set to take effect on Jan 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM - Israeli air strikes killed at least 70 people in Gaza overnight on Jan 16, residents and the authorities in the enclave said, hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced
The complex ceasefire accord
The deal, scheduled to be implemented from Jan 19, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed.
Hostages taken by Hamas would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country’s security Cabinet and government, and a vote was slated for Jan 16, an Israeli official said.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of making last-minute demands and going back on agreements.
“The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” a statement from his office said.
It was unclear what impact the latest delay will have on the deal.
Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Jan 15, senior group official Izzat el-Reshiq said on Jan 16.
Hardliners in Mr Netanyahu’s government were still hoping to stop the deal, though a majority of ministers were still expected to back it.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said his party would stay in the government only if Israel resumes the war full force until Hamas is defeated. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has also threatened to quit the government if the ceasefire is approved.
Some Palestinians called for the deal to be implemented more quickly.
“We lose homes every hour. We demand for this joy not to go away, the joy that was drawn on our faces – don’t waste it by delaying the implementation of the truce until Sunday,” Gaza resident Mahmoud Abu Wardeh said.
While people celebrated the pact in Gaza and Israel, the Israeli military conducted more attacks after the announcement, the civil emergency service and residents said.
Mr Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service, said in a statement that 71 Palestinians had been killed and at least 200 others wounded.
The Israeli military is looking into the reports, a military spokesperson said.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Jan 19. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps to implement the agreement, he added.
“This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” US President Joe Biden said in Washington.
His successor, Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, claimed credit for the Gaza breakthrough.
Israelis will find it hard to see Palestinian militants, who are serving life sentences for their involvement in deadly attacks in their country, set free.
But successive surveys have shown broad support among the public for a deal that would see the hostages released, even at what is seen as a heavy price.
“This has to be the only choice that we take in order to continue surviving as a state and as a nation, knowing that we will do anything to save each other,” said Jerusalem resident Chava Treitel.
Israel secured major gains over Iran and its proxies, mainly Hezbollah, as the Gaza conflict spread. In Gaza, Hamas may have been crippled, but without an alternative administration in place, it has been left standing.
Food lined up at Gaza’s borders
In social media posts, some Gaza residents urged Palestinians to exercise extra caution in the belief that Israel could step up attacks in the next few days to maximise gains before the ceasefire starts.
Nevertheless, news of the ceasefire deal sparked jubilation in Gaza, where Palestinians have faced severe shortages of food, water, shelter and fuel. In Khan Younis, throngs clogged the streets amid the sound of horns as they cheered, waved Palestinian flags and danced.
“I am happy. Yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy,” said Ms Ghada, a displaced mother of five.
In Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages and their friends
In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact “an achievement for our people” and “a turning point”.
If successful, the ceasefire will halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed over 46,000 people and displaced most of the tiny enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million, according to the Gaza authorities.
That in turn could defuse tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has stoked conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between arch regional foes Israel and Iran.
With 94 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 of them, including all women, children and men over 50. Two American hostages, Mr Keith Siegel and Mr Sagui Dekel-Chen, will be among those released in the first phase
Food lined up at the Gaza borders
The agreement calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross said they were preparing to scale up their aid operations.
Global reaction to the ceasefire was enthusiastic. Leaders and officials of Egypt, Turkey, Britain, the UN, the European Union, Jordan, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, among others, celebrated the news.
Mr Biden and Trump both claimed credit for the deal that was months in the making but was helped across the line by a Trump emissary.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was in Qatar along with White House envoys for the talks, and a senior Biden administration official said Mr Witkoff’s presence was critical to reaching a deal after 96 hours of intense negotiations.
Mr Biden said that the two teams had “been speaking as one”.
Israeli hostage families expressed concern that the accord may not be fully implemented and some hostages may be left behind in Gaza.
Negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal will begin by the 16th day of phase one, and this stage is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The third stage is to address the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza’s reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
If all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel must still agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, including the unanswered question of who will run Gaza after the war.
Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. REUTERS
