Gaza, Jan 17: At least 86 Palestinians, including 23 children, were killed in Gaza following Wednesday’s announcement of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, the Palestinian Civil Defence said, amid ongoing Israeli attacks on the strip.
Of the total deaths, 73 were reported in the Gaza City in the north, four in central Gaza, and nine in the south, the Civil Defence said in a press statement. The dead included 23 children and 27 women, while more than 258 others sustained varying injuries, according to the statement.
For its part, the Israeli army said that its air force targeted about 50 sites across Gaza in the past hours, Xinhua news agency reported. The targets included members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, military buildings, weapon storage facilities, rocket-launching sites, weapons production sites, and observation posts, it said in a press release.
It also accused Hamas of “systematically violating international law by brutally exploiting civilian institutions and populations as human shields for its activities,” adding that it will continue to act decisively against such organisations.
Egypt, Qatar, and the US, which have been mediating between Israel and Hamas to bring an end to the conflict in Gaza, announced in a joint statement that the two parties had reached an agreement for a prisoner and hostage exchange, along with a return to sustainable calm, aiming for a permanent ceasefire between them.
The agreement is expected to take effect on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Israel’s military said it struck about 50 sites across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a day after it agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hamas. In a statement, the military said the strikes targeted a militant who took part in the Hamas-led onslaught on Israeli communities in October 2023.
The militant “participated in the massacre at the Nova Music Festival,” the military said. It also attacked other Hamas and Islamic Jihad military compounds, weapons storage and manufacturing facilities, launch posts, and observation posts, according to the statement.
Since October 7, 2023, Hamas and Israel have been engaged in a fierce conflict that has killed over 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza and caused unprecedented destruction. The conflict began after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing Israelis and taking hostages.
IANS