ISRAELI forces continued to bombard the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite an announcement by mediators that a ceasefire agreement had been reached to end the two-year genocidal assault.
Heavy airstrikes and artillery fire were reported across Gaza City and Khan Younis overnight, killing and wounding dozens.
Health officials confirmed at least nine deaths since dawn as Israeli quadcopters dropped bombs on civilians, while tanks blocked al-Rasheed Road to stop displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in the north.
The renewed bombardment came only hours after mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt announced that a deal had been reached between Israel and the Hamas resistance movement to halt hostilities.
According to the mediators, the agreement’s first phase would include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a large-scale prisoner exchange, and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
A Hamas spokesperson accused Israel of attempting to manipulate the agreed timelines and prisoner lists, urging mediators to pressure Tel Aviv to honour its commitments.
The movement said that all captives, both living and deceased, would be handed over in the first phase, which is expected to begin with the release of 20 Israeli captives in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by early next week.
Hamas has also demanded the release of long-imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sa’adat, Qassam Brigades commander Abdullah Barghouti, and senior leader Abbas al-Sayed, as well as the return of the bodies of assassinated Hamas chiefs Yahya and Mohammad Sinwar.
In a televised address on Thursday evening, senior Hamas leader Dr Khalil al-Hayya announced the initiation of a permanent ceasefire and said that mediators, including the US administration, had given assurances that ‘the war has ended completely’.
He thanked the people of Gaza for their resilience and the allies who supported them, including Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq.
‘Gaza residents fought in a war unprecedented in the world and faced the enemy’s tyranny, military actions, and massacres,’ he said.
‘We have received guarantees from our brothers, the mediators and the US administration, all confirming that the war has ended completely.’
The ceasefire’s provisions include the reopening of the Rafah crossing and the release of 250 Palestinians serving life sentences alongside 1,700 detained since October 2023.
Al-Hayya said Hamas had dealt with the American-backed proposal ‘with high responsibility’ to protect Palestinian lives while upholding the right to resistance and national self-determination.
Despite these developments, reports of continuing Israeli attacks raised doubts about the durability of the truce and whether Tel Aviv intends to comply with the agreed withdrawal.
Hamas officials warned that Israeli authorities could still obstruct implementation by using vague and unverified maps of the withdrawal zones.
‘Stopping the war means a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,’ said senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk, describing earlier Israeli maps as ‘hand-drawn and unprofessional’.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, over 80 per cent of them civilians, according to leaked Israeli military data.