Israeli Attacks Kill 70+ as Netanyahu Delays Cabinet Vote on Cease-Fire Deal

Israeli attacks have reportedly killed more than 70 people in the Gaza Strip in the hours since a multiphase cease-fire agreement was announced Wednesday, a deal that sparked cautious hope for an end to a 15-month U.S.-backed assault that has decimated the Palestinian enclave and created one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in modern history.

Israel's cabinet was expected to meet Thursday to approve the cease-fire and hostage-release deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement accusing Hamas of reneging "on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions."

"The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," said Netanyahu, who is facing backlash from far-right groups and lawmakers over the deal.

Hamas rejected Netanyahu's claim that it is backing off the agreed-upon deal, with senior officials reiterating the group's commitment to the cease-fire in response to the Israeli prime minister.

"There is no basis for Netanyahu's allegations that the movement has backed down from the terms of the cease-fire agreement," said one Hamas official.

At a Wednesday press conference announcing the deal, Qatar's prime minister expressed hope that "the coming days will not see any military operations," with the cease-fire supposed to take effect on Sunday.

But those hopes were quickly dashed as Israeli forces continued their bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 73 people—including 20 children—and injuring hundreds more in attacks across the territory following news of the deal, which was a product of months of negotiations.

Al Jazeera reported that one of the Israeli attacks hit a school housing displaced people in Gaza City.

The deal's announcement, while welcomed by humanitarian groups and Palestinians displaced by Israeli bombing, was met with some trepidation given Netanyahu's insistence last month that Israeli forces "will return to fighting" once hostages are freed.

"There is no point in pretending otherwise," the prime minister said, "because returning to fighting is needed in order to complete the goals of the war."

Annelle Sheline, a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote Wednesday that "despite the jubilation of the population in Gaza as well as that of the families of hostages held by Hamas, there have already been signs that Netanyahu has no interest in a lasting cease-fire."

Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), warned Wednesday that "there are many ways" the deal could fall apart.

"Netanyahu has reportedly assured his right-wing ministers that he will resume the war after phase I 'until Hamas' defeat,'" Duss noted. "If, as another Israeli report claims, [U.S. President-elect Donald] Trump has secretly offered support for more settlements in the West Bank in exchange for Netanyahu backing the Gaza cease-fire, a return to large-scale violence against West Bank Palestinians (as opposed to the smaller-scale violence that they endure every day) is simply a question of when, not if."

"So long as the Palestinian people live under occupation, and the Israeli government steadily consolidates that occupation as a single undemocratic state, neither Israelis nor Palestinians will ever know the security and peace that both peoples desire and deserve," Duss added. "The path toward both will require a level of vision and courage that is currently in very short supply."