By Anushka Rajvedi
Israel indicted the Hamas of reverting back on the ceasefire agreement that was to be signed between the two countries when Hamas executed air strikes on the country on 16 January 2025, Thursday.
The Palestinian Islamic movement, Hamas, was indicted by Israel after air strikes on the country just before the voting of the cabinet was to take place. The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said that,” such an attack indicates that Hamas has backed out from the ceasefire that both Israel and Hamas agreed upon after the intervention of mediators.” He also said that “Israel is now trying to make adjustments at the last minute.”
Stating that “this attack has turned out to be a last minute crisis,” Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the cabinet has still not approved the agreement that was to be signed between Israel and Hamas.” He also stated that, “the cabinet might not approve the agreement until the mediators give them assurance that Hamas will follow and has agreed to every part of the agreement between the two.”
However, Sami Abu Zuhri, the member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, denied all the accusations of Israel and stated that these allegations were completely ‘baseless’. Moreover, the civil defense agency of Gaza, stated that,”since the announcement of agreement between the two nations, Israel occupied many areas of the country.” They also said that, “after the announcement, they also killed more than 73 people and left hundreds of people injured.”
The mediators Qatar and the United States made an announcement on 15 January 2025, Wednesday that, “the agreement to be signed between the two countries will be in effect from 19 January 2025, Sunday. On the same day, Israel will release the Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israelis that were hostaged by Hamas. Both the countries will also discuss the conditions on which the war will come to an end.”
The war began on 7 October 2024, when Hamas attacked Israel which resulted in the death of 1,210 people. They also captured 251 people hostages, out of which, 94 are still held in Gaza. The Israeli army stated that,”out of these 94 hostages, 34 are dead.” Israel on the other hand, has killed 46,707 people, mostly civilians.