At least 83 killed in strikes on Gaza as Israel delays vote on ceasefire agreement
After 15 months of turmoil, news that Israel's war in Gaza is almost at an end is sinking in, but the decision is now hanging in the air, as ITV News John Irvine and Emma Murphy reports
At least 83 people have been killed in airstrikes on Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was announced, as Israel says a "last-minute" dispute with Hamas is delaying its approval.
The agreement, announced on Wednesday, is due to come into force on Sunday and will see a pause in nearly 16 months of fighting and dozens of hostages returned home.
Hours after the agreement was signed, dozens of people, including 23 children and 27 women were killed by Israeli airstrikes, Gaza's highest death toll in more than a week, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence.
More than 200 people were injured in the attacks on Thursday.
It comes as an Israeli official said that the full Cabinet will hold a vote on the deal on Saturday, while the smaller security cabinet does the same on Friday.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his Cabinet won't meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down from what it called a "last-minute crisis".
The ceasefire agreement has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners, on whose support the Israeli prime minister depends to remain in power.
Israel's hardline national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approves the ceasefire.
The deal announced would see scores of hostages held in Gaza released and a pause in fighting with a view to eventually wind down a 15-month war that has destabilised the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Despite Israel's delays, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is "confident" and "fully" expects the ceasefire deal to come into effect on Sunday.
“Look, it’s not exactly surprising that in a process, in a negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end. We’re tying up that loose end as we speak,” Blinken said at a press conference Thursday.
Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of going back on parts of the agreement in an attempt "to extort last-minute concessions".
Hamas rejected Netanyahu's suggestion, with senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq saying that the militant group "is committed to the ceasefire agreement".
Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators are heading to Cairo on Thursday for further talks on implementing all aspects of the ceasefire deal, a senior US official said.
Israeli and Palestinian reaction to the ceasefire deal
Large crowds of joyful Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza when the agreement was announced, cheering and honking car horns.
In Israel, there were conflicting responses to the deal.
Families of bereaved soldiers displayed coffins in Jerusalem on Thursday at a protest against the ceasefire deal.
The right-wing Gvura Forum, which represents some of the families of soldiers killed during the war, say if Israel agrees to the proposed deal, it would be surrendering to Hamas without reaching the goals of the war.
In Tel Aviv, relatives and friends of hostages demonstrated on Wednesday calling for an end to the war and for the hostages to be brought home.
Ongoing deal disagreements between Israel and Hamas
Netanyahu has said earlier that Hamas was objecting to a part of the agreement that gave Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.
Under the three-phased deal, Hamas is expected to release dozens of hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
But Netanyahu is arguing that Hamas was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners would be released.
The Israeli prime minister has faced increasing domestic pressure to bring home hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he were to make too many concessions.
He does have enough opposition support to approve an agreement even without those partners, but doing so would weaken his coalition.
What does the agreement look like?
The agreement will be a three-phased deal.
The first phase will involve the release of 33 hostages over six weeks, including women, children, the elderly, and wounded civilians, in exchange for potentially hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.
There will be an increase in the amount of aid allowed into Gaza and Israel will begin withdrawing troops
Israel will begin withdrawing troops but keep a presence in the Philadelphi corridor in the South of Gaza and in the buffer zone along the Israel-Gaza border.
Negotiations for the second phase will begin 16 days into the first and will involve the release of remaining Israeli hostages and the arrangement for a permanent ceasefire.
The third phase would be expected to include the reconstruction of Gaza under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
Many long-term questions about the future of Gaza remain, including who will govern the territory and oversee its reconstruction.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the agreement as a "glimmer of light in the darkness" and urged the Israeli government to approve it.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also said the ceasefire deal was “very welcome" and a relief to hostages and their families.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Thursday, he said: "There’s a path to a lasting peace which has to be a two-state solution, a viable Palestinian state and a safe and secure Israel."
Many long-term questions about the future of Gaza remain, including who will govern the territory and oversee its reconstruction.
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