Israeli strikes rain down on Gaza following truce deal

Israeli strikes on Gaza intensified overnight after the announcement on Wednesday of a ceasefire deal that should come into effect on Sunday, creating deadly chaos amongst celebrating Palestinians.

According to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, since the announcement, Israeli forces have killed 73 people, including 20 children and 25 women, and left over 230 injured.

Israeli forces targeted displacement shelters and residential homes across the strip, and even fired at the shores of Rafah and markets, the news site Arab48 reported. 

“The night we were waiting for the announcement was very difficult… as if it was one of the first days of the war,” journalist Warda Saed al-Dremly told Middle East Eye.

“The final moments are always incredibly horrible, filled with strikes, fear and horror. We prayed all night that we would be fine when the morning comes.”

“Every hour is filled with bloodshed”

Dremly added that she did not let any of her family members out for fear of them being killed by Israeli attacks. “We have three days left, so every hour is filled with bloodshed.” 

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-phase ceasefire deal after 15 months of hostilities. The Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani announced in Doha that the agreement would take effect on 19 January. 

Israel’s cabinet has yet to vote on the agreement, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has claimed without evidence that Hamas is making “last-minute attempts at blackmail” by allegedly reneging on certain terms. 

Meanwhile, Israel has unleashed ferocious assaults across Gaza.

“The Israeli occupation forces are still practicing the bombing policy until now,” Basal said on X, writing in another post that it was a “very difficult and harsh day for the Gaza Strip, and specifically Gaza City.”

Muhammad Mushtaha, a 31-year-old displaced Palestinian in Shujaiya who witnessed one of these attacks, said their area was hit with a “very powerful” bomb at around 4am, leading to the destruction of several homes, with multiple people killed or injured, including children.

“Civil defence forces said they could only take the wounded because the night was filled with bombardments and [their capabilities were] too overwhelmed to take martyrs… and that we needed to bury them on our own,” Mushtaha told MEE. 

“All the houses around us were destroyed.”

‘A new war will begin’

According to the agreement, 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza will be released as part of the first phase, including nine who are ill or wounded. Israel will free 1,000 Palestinians who were detained from 8 October 2023 onwards. 

The Israeli army will also begin to withdraw from the Gaza Strip as part of the first phase, moving eastwards from densely populated areas, including from the Netzarim Corridor and Kuwait Roundabout. 

The broad outline of the second phase is for all Israeli captives to be released in return for a total withdrawal from Gaza. The exact details are yet to be confirmed. 

The third phase will involve the return of the bodies of Israeli captives still held in Gaza and the announcement of a three- to five-year reconstruction plan for the enclave overseen by international actors. 

Israel’s war on Gaza, which has lasted 467 days, has killed nearly 47,000 people, most of whom are women and children.

More than 110,000 others have been wounded in the enclave and at least 11,000 people are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

The scale of destruction has also rendered the enclave unfit for living. 

Dremly told MEE that while they are happy that there is a pause in fighting, they are devastated by the losses they have endured. The journalist lost several loved ones including her father, which deeply affected the whole family.

“We are upset because another kind of pain will resurface [once the ceasefire starts], a new war will begin… the war of loss, pain and fear, physically and mentally.”