At least 70 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight and throughout Thursday, according to residents and authorities in the territory, Reuters reports. The strikes came hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to end 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, a conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip and created a severe humanitarian crisis.
The agreement has yet to be finalized, with Israel's security cabinet postponing a planned Thursday morning meeting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated: “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.”
A photo taken from the Israeli side of the Gaza border on January 16 shows plumes of smoke rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in northern Gaza. (Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)
Hamas stated it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement mediated on Wednesday, with senior official Izzat el-Reshiq reaffirming this position on Thursday morning, according to Reuters.
Protests erupted in Jerusalem on Thursday, opposing the proposed deal. Families of Israeli soldiers killed in the conflict placed mock coffins draped in Israeli flags on the streets.
A demonstrator is pictured standing amid the mock coffins protesting the ceasefire with Hamas outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on January 16. (Photograph: John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images)
With 98 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, phase one of the agreement involves the release of 33 hostages, including all women, children, and men over 50 years of age.
An earlier Israeli military report about a suspected projectile landing near a kibbutz close to the Gaza border was later determined to be a false alarm.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, the body of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Al-Shayah, killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, was mourned at Nasser Hospital on January 16. (Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA)
It remains impossible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures reported during the ongoing conflict.
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