Since the breakout of the latest round of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in early October 2023, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 48,239, with 111,676 others injured, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, the Israeli forces killed three people and wounded two others in their operations in the region, and Gaza hospitals also received 14 corpses pulled out of the rubbles, the health authorities reported.
On Thursday, Taher Al-Nono, a senior official of Hamas, stressed the need to immediately start negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, and urged Israel to actively fulfill its obligations. The advisor also blamed Israel for the delay in negotiations.
Currently, the ceasefire deal is facing its most severe crisis since the implementation of its first phase.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the ceasefire with Hamas would end "if Hamas does not return our hostages by noon on Saturday."
Netanyahu's remarks came a day after Hamas announced that the handover of hostages scheduled for Saturday would be postponed until further notice. Following Netanyahu's statement, Hamas said it remained committed to the ceasefire deal as long as Israel abides by it.
Israel "bears full responsibility for any complications or delays," the group said in a statement.
On Monday, Hamas accused Israel of violating the three-week-old ceasefire deal, including blocking vital humanitarian aid.
The three-phase ceasefire agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims for a "permanent ceasefire between the parties," according to the mediators.
The first stage, which lasts for 42 days, includes a ceasefire, the withdrawal and redeployment of Israeli forces outside densely populated areas, the release of hostages and exchange of prisoners and detainees, the exchange of the remains of the deceased, the return of internally displaced persons to their places of residence in Gaza, and facilitating the departure of patients and the wounded to receive treatment, as well as intensifying the safe and effective entry and distribution of humanitarian aid on a large scale throughout the Gaza Strip.
The deal is also expected to see 33 of the remaining 98 Israeli hostages released in return for more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first phase of the agreement, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry.
The details of the second and third phases will be announced after the completion of the first phase of the agreement.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbs to 48,239
