Israeli airstrikes in Gaza continue after ceasefire announced

Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza ahead of a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas that takes effect on Sunday, subject to Israeli cabinet approval.

The strikes killed 62 people the night after the deal was announced, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said.

Gaza’s civil defense agency put the number higher, saying at least 73 people were killed and hundreds wounded.

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

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

Israel has previously carried out airstrikes in the run-up to ceasefire agreements taking effect, most recently in Lebanon, where heavy bombing hit the capital Beirut just hours before a ceasefire there in November.

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

It added that the cabinet would not meet until Hamas accepted “all elements of the agreement”.

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

Two hard-line right-wing ministers, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have long threatened to quit the government coalition if the ceasefire continues.

That could lead to new elections in Israel, but their resignations will not block a deal if Netanyahu wants it to happen, observers say.

Qatar’s prime minister, who is mediating the talks, called for “calm” on both sides before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement.

This will result in the exchange of 33 hostages – including women, children and the elderly – for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

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

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

Talks on the second phase – which should lead to the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and a return to “sustainable calm” – will begin on the 16th.

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

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

He said 40 million tons of “toxic” rubble must be removed before Gazans can return to where their houses were.

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

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and others – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage.

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

Most of the 2.3 million people have also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as aid agencies struggle to get aid to those in need.

Israel claims 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are believed to be dead. In addition, there are four Israelis who were kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.