Israel Continues Gaza Airstrikes Despite Ceasefire Agreement... US "Confident in Negotiations on the 19th"

86 Dead, Highest Toll in a Week
Israel Postpones Ceasefire Approval Meeting Amid Far-Right Opposition

Israel continues airstrikes on the Gaza Strip even after announcing a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian armed faction Hamas. The ceasefire negotiations became uncertain when Israel postponed approval of the ceasefire plan, citing Hamas's breach of the agreement, but the ceasefire talks are expected to take place as scheduled on the 19th.

On the 16th (local time), US CNN reported, citing the Gaza Civil Defense, that 86 people were killed and 258 injured due to Israeli airstrikes following the ceasefire announcement the previous day. This is the highest death toll in the past week.

Gaza Strip. Photo by AP Yonhap News

The Israeli military stated that it conducted airstrikes on about 50 terrorist targets, including weapons storage facilities, across the Gaza Strip that day.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, claimed that the Israeli attacks targeted areas where Israeli female hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire are being held, warning that "attacks at this stage could turn the planned release of hostages into a tragedy."

The previous day, mediators Qatar and the United States announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed on a three-phase ceasefire plan to halt six weeks of fighting, exchange hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and discuss a permanent ceasefire.

However, Israel postponed the cabinet meeting originally scheduled for that morning to approve the ceasefire plan, alleging that Hamas had violated parts of the agreement. Furthermore, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir strongly opposed the ceasefire plan, threatening to resign if it was approved. Since Prime Minister Netanyahu leads the government in coalition with far-right parties, the defection of far-right ministers could collapse the coalition. This raised concerns that the ceasefire plan might be derailed again.

Nonetheless, the ceasefire negotiations are expected to proceed as planned on the 19th. Israeli media reported that the cabinet is scheduled to convene a meeting to approve the ceasefire plan on the 17th or 18th.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference that day, "We are finalizing unresolved issues even at this moment," and expressed confidence that "it will be implemented on the 19th as announced."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.