Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal brings hope, but Gaza bombing continues as hostage families hold their breath [View all]

Source: CBS News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a "last-minute crisis" with Hamas was delaying Israel's final approval of the long-sought truce. Israeli media reports suggested the delay was likely down to Netanyahu trying to buying time to deal with nationalist hardliners in his cabinet who've always fiercely opposed any agreement with Hamas.

Mahmood Kurdia, who's been living in the southern city of Khan Younis after being forced from his home in northern Gaza, said he couldn't wait to get back, even though he knows he has virtually nothing to go back to.

"I want to go back home to see my family, my neighbors and my home. Even though my home is just ruins now, but I still want to see it. I want to remove the rubble and put my tent on the top of the ruins and say to Israel that I'm back," he told CBS News on Wednesday." Like everyone else, however, he was keenly aware that peace, if it is coming, is still three days away.

Israel appeared to ramp up its strikes Wednesday evening, killing more than 70 people between the ceasefire deal being announced and Thursday morning, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and the enclave's Civil Defense rescue agency. Both agencies told CBS News that the dead including 21 children and 24 women.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-ceasefire-gaza-bombing-continues-netaynahu-delay-hostage-anxiety/