Thursday 16, Jan 2025 {HMC} At least 70 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes amid ceasefire deal delay
Israel airstrikes killed at least 70 more people in Gaza overnight and during Thursday, Reuters reports residents and authorities in the territory said, hours after a prospective ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to bring an end to 15 months of war betweenIsrael and Hamas which has devastated the Gaza Strip and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
The 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 in an effort 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.”
Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday, with Reuters citing senior group official Izzat el-Reshiq making the comment on Thursday morning.
Protests were staged on Thursday morning in Jerusalem opposing the deal, with the families of Israeli soldiers killed during the conflict placing mock coffins draped in Israeli flags in the street.
With 98 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.
An earlier report by Israel’s military of a falling projectile at a kibbutz close to the border with the Gaza Strip was later determined to be a false identification.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
The Times of Israel has published what it claims is the text of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
It states that the agreement consists of Appendix I, which it says supplements the previously published proposed agreement framework of 27 May 2024.
The Times of Israel adds that:
Several additional appendixes that include maps and other details outlining the parameters of the deal were not included in copy of the text obtained by The Times of Israel, whose authenticity was confirmed by an Arab diplomat familiar with the negotiations.
The Guardian has not independently seen or verified the document. The Times of Israel report can be read here.
It sets out in eight sections where Israeli troops will withdraw to, the ratio of Palestinian detainees to be released per different category of hostage, the exit of wounded people through and the operation of the Rafah crossing, Israel withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor within 50 days, and the provision of further humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
