An Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City killed 18 people as Palestinians nervously await the start of the ceasefire on Sunday.
Israeli forces have killed at least 82 people in Gaza, medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune, including at least 30 people in Gaza City in the hours after Hamas and Israel announced a peace deal. ceasefire.
An attack on a house near the engineers union building in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday evening killed at least 18 people, Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic correspondent reported.
The Palestinian Civil Defense also said it had recovered the bodies of 12 people in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.
In central Gaza, five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a gathering of people in the Karaj area of the Bureij camp.
The death toll, counted since dawn on Wednesday, continued to rise as Palestinians returned to their tents after briefly celebrating the news of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas Wednesday evening.
“For a few hours, people turned this whole area into a party scene, something we are not used to seeing here because this area was once a funeral scene for war victims and a space filled with agony and sadness. said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
But the ceasefire only begins on Sunday and Gazans fear the worst will happen before the Israeli bombardment ends, Mahmoud said.
“We are expecting an increase in drone attacks and heavy artillery, and this is what caused people to end the celebrations after two hours,” he said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Anas al-Sharif, reporting from Gaza City, said intense Israeli attacks there had “extinguished” the joy people felt at the initial ceasefire announcement.
“Just a few hours ago, an atmosphere of joy and relief reigned among the residents here when the ceasefire announcement was made from Doha, specifying that it would come into force in the coming days ” said al-Sharif.
“However, immediately after the announcement, Israeli warplanes extinguished this joy for the population by hitting hospitals, shelters and homes with direct airstrikes. »
Israel and Hamas have publicly acknowledged that a ceasefire and captive exchange deal has been reached, although Israel has said some final details still need to be worked out before the deal is sealed.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he spoke at dawn on Thursday with the Israeli negotiating team in Doha, who briefed him on disagreements with Hamas over the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captives during the first phase. of the agreement.
As of January 1, 2025, there were at least 10,221 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, not counting the unknown number of Palestinians taken from Gaza and detained by the military, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital of northern Gaza, which was destroyed by Israeli forces.
Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas politburo, said earlier that the ceasefire agreement met all of the Palestinian group’s conditions, including the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced people in their homes and the definitive end of the war in Hamas. enclave.
The exact time the ceasefire is scheduled to begin on Sunday is not yet known, although the entire process will be implemented in three phases.
