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Israeli Military: Confirmed Number of Gaza Hostages Rises to 224

A dinner table is set with empty chairs that symbolically represent hostages and missing people waiting to come home, following a deadly infiltration of Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Brussels, Belgium October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
A dinner table is set with empty chairs that symbolically represent hostages and missing people waiting to come home, following a deadly infiltration of Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Brussels, Belgium October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
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Israeli Military: Confirmed Number of Gaza Hostages Rises to 224

A dinner table is set with empty chairs that symbolically represent hostages and missing people waiting to come home, following a deadly infiltration of Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Brussels, Belgium October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
A dinner table is set with empty chairs that symbolically represent hostages and missing people waiting to come home, following a deadly infiltration of Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Brussels, Belgium October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

The Israeli military said on Thursday that the number of people confirmed held hostage in the Gaza Strip since the Oct 7 cross-border raids by Hamas had reached 224, and could rise further.

Foreigners are among those captured by Hamas.

Four hostages have been released.

US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday discussed "ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release" of Americans believed held hostage in Gaza, the White House said.

Biden also stressed to Netanyahu the "importance of focusing on what comes after this crisis to include a pathway for a permanent peace between Israelis and Palestinians," the White House said.

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Arab World

Death Toll in Israeli Strikes on Gaza Rises to 77 since Ceasefire Deal

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Death Toll in Israeli Strikes on Gaza Rises to 77 since Ceasefire Deal

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Israel airstrikes killed at least 77 people in Gaza overnight on Thursday, residents and authorities in the enclave said, hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to bring an end to 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The complex ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US to stop the war that has devastated the coastal territory and inflamed the Middle East.
The deal, scheduled to be implemented from Sunday, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed. Hostages taken by militant group Hamas, which controls the enclave, would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
The deal also paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the majority of the population has been displaced and is facing acute food shortages, food security experts warned late last year.
Rows of aid trucks were lined up in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish waiting to cross into Gaza, once the border is reopened, Reuters reported.
Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, and a vote was slated for Thursday, an Israeli official said.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the meeting, accusing Hamas of making last-minute demands and going back on agreements.
"The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said on Thursday the group is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.
For some Palestinians, the deal could not come soon enough.
"We lose homes every hour. We demand for this joy not to go away, the joy that was drawn on our faces - don't waste it by delaying the implementation of the truce until Sunday," Gazan man Mahmoud Abu Wardeh said.