SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By Tia Goldenberg, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magy
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday a “last-minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Netanyahu’s office said his cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions, without elaborating.
Protesters hug in response to reports of a ceasefire agreement during a protest calling for the release of the hostages in Gaza in Tel Aviv, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.Credit: NYT
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators”.
US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday (US time), which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down a 15-month war that has destabilised the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a “last minute crisis” with Hamas is holding up approval of the Gaza truce and hostage deal.
Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions. He has enough opposition support to approve an agreement, but doing so would weaken his coalition and make early elections more likely.
A night of heavy Israeli strikes
Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli bombardment overnight as people were celebrating the ceasefire deal. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
“We were expecting that the occupation would intensify the bombing, like they did every time there were reports on progress in the truce [negotiations],” said Mohammed Mahdi, who fled his home a few months ago and is sheltering in Gaza City.
Ahmed Mattar, who lives near the city’s Al-Ahly Hospital, said he heard “massive airstrikes” overnight.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 48 people were killed in Israeli strikes between noon Wednesday and Thursday morning (local time). Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press.
He said the toll could rise as hospitals update their records.
An Associated Press reporter on the Israeli side of the border near Gaza heard more airstrikes and artillery fire on Thursday.
A phased withdrawal and hostage release with potential pitfalls
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and the Israeli military believes up to half of them are dead.
Under the deal reached on Wednesday, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second – and much more difficult – phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced some 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people, according to the United Nations.
Ceasefire leaves questions about Gaza’s future unanswered
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US are expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the agreement. They have spent the past year holding indirect talks with Israel and Hamas that finally resulted in a deal after repeated setbacks.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump’s team are taking credit for the breakthrough.
Many longer-term questions about post-war Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilised the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. It also blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations brought by South Africa that Israel has committed genocide. The International Criminal Court, a separate body also based in The Hague, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defence minister and a Hamas commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war.
Israel and the United States have condemned the actions taken by both courts.
Hamas, a militant group that does not accept Israel’s existence, has come under overwhelming pressure from Israeli military operations, including the invasion of Gaza’s largest cities and towns and the takeover of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the October 7, 2023, attack, have been killed.
But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.
AP
