Israel has stepped up its strikes on Gaza hours after announcing a ceasefire and a hostage-free deal, residents and authorities in the Palestinian enclave said, as mediators try to quell fighting before the truce begins on Sunday, Reuters reports.
The complex ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas militant group, which controls Gaza, emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the United States and 15 months of bloodshed that has devastated the coastal territory and inflamed the Middle East.
The agreement outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands were killed. The hostages taken by Hamas will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be formal until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, and a vote is scheduled for Thursday, an Israeli official said.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of making last-minute demands and backing away from the agreements.
"The Israeli cabinet will not meet until the mediators inform Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by the mediators on Wednesday, the group's senior representative, Izzat al-Reshiq, said on Thursday.
The hardliners Netanyahu's government still hoped to stop the deal, although a majority of ministers were still expected to support it. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said his party would remain in government only if Israel resumed the war with full force until Hamas was defeated. Far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also threatened to quit the government if the ceasefire was approved.
As people celebrated the pact in Gaza and Israel, the Israeli military carried out more attacks after the announcement, the civil emergency services and residents said.
On Thursday, Gaza militants fired a rocket into Israel, the Israeli army said, causing no casualties.
Israeli airstrikes throughout the night and early Thursday killed at least 46 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps to implement the agreement, he said.
"This deal will stop the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity," U.S. President Joe Biden said in Washington.
His successor, Donald Trump, takes office on Monday and has claimed credit for the Gaza breakthrough.
It will be difficult for some Israelis to see the release of Palestinian militants who have been serving life sentences for their role in deadly attacks in their country.
But successive polls show broad public support for a deal that would see the hostages released, even at what is seen as a high price.
"This must be the only choice we make to continue to survive as a country and as a nation, knowing that we will do anything to save each other," said Jerusalem resident Chava Treitel.
Israel has secured major gains over Iran and its proxies, mainly Hezbollah, as the conflict in Gaza has escalated.
News of the ceasefire agreement has sparked joy in Gaza, where Palestinians face acute shortages of food, water, shelter and fuel. In Khan Younis, crowds jammed the streets to the sound of horns as they cheered, waved Palestinian flags and danced.
In Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages and their friends also welcomed the news, saying in a statement that they felt "huge joy and relief (about) the agreement to return our loved ones home".
In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact "an achievement for our people" and "a turning point".
If successful, the ceasefire would halt fighting that has devastated much of Gaza, killed more than 46,000 people and displaced most of the small enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million, according to Gaza authorities.
This in turn could ease tensions in the wider Middle East, where the war has ignited conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq and raised fears of all-out war between arch-rivals Israel and Iran.
With 98 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, the first phase of the deal involves the release of 33 of them, including all women, children and men over 50.