The war between Israel and Hamas: A truce in Gaza begins after the hostage release agreement

DEIR EL BALAH (Gaza Strip) – A four-day truce in the war between Israel and Hamas came into force early Friday, paving the way for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The cessation of fighting promised some relief to Gaza’s increasingly radicalized population of 2.3 million Weeks of Israeli bombingAs well as families in Israel who fear for the fate of their loved ones who were captured during this Hamas attack on October 7 That sparked the war.

The ceasefire began at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and is scheduled to last for at least four days. During this period, Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement pledged to release at least 50 of the approximately 240 hostages it and other activists took on October 7. Hamas said Israel would release them. 150 Palestinian prisoners. The agreement also stipulates that more aid will reach southern Gaza, where Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity.

Shortly after the ceasefire went into effect, trucks carrying fuel and other supplies could be seen entering the terminal at the Rafah crossing from Egypt, where they were transferred to other trucks that would carry them to Gaza.

Shortly after the ceasefire went into effect, trucks loaded with fuel and other supplies could be seen entering the terminal at the Rafah crossing from Egypt, where the truce allows for an increased flow of aid reaching civilians facing severe food shortages. Water, medicine and electricity.

Both sides will release the women and children first. Israel said the hoax would be extended for an additional day for every 10 additional hostages freed.

The first 50 hostages to be released are Israeli citizens, including some with second citizenship, according to a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details with the media.

The official did not comment on media reports that Hamas had also agreed to release non-Israelis, including 23 Thai nationals. The Thai Foreign Minister told reporters in Bangkok that he had not yet been able to confirm these reports.

The hostage fund agreement was reached during weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt acting as mediators. If it holds, it would mark the first major break in the fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago.

The agreement raised hopes that the war would eventually end, which is what happened And leveling large areas of the Gaza Stripfeed to Escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank It raised fears of a broader conflagration across the Middle East. Israel responded to these speculations, saying that it was determined to resume its massive offensive as soon as the truth emerged.

The first group of 13 women and children held by Hamas will be released on Friday afternoon, according to what Majed Al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, announced. Three Palestinian prisoners, including women and minors, are scheduled to be released for every hostel liberated.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release, most of them teenagers who were arrested over the past year on charges of stone-throwing and other minor violations.

The return of the hosts may lift morale in Israel, where their plight is sweeping the country. Families of hostages They organized mass demonstrations To pressure the government to return them to their homeland. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had informed the families of the hostages scheduled to be released on Friday.

Al-Ansari said on Thursday that increased aid to the Palestinians would begin entering Gaza “as soon as possible.” He told reporters that the hope is that the “momentum” generated by this agreement will lead to “an end to this violence.”

Hamas said that 200 trucks would enter Gaza daily carrying aid. Qatar said the aid would include fuel, but did not give details about the quantities.

Israel cut off all imports at the beginning of the war, except for the few food, water and medical supplies allowed in from Egypt. Fuel shortages caused power outages across the region, leaving homes and hospitals dependent on broken generators.

Separately, the Israeli army dropped leaflets on southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who took refuge there against trying to return to their homes in the northern half of the Strip, which is the focus of the Israeli ground offensive. Israel said it would prevent attempts at return. Despite the warning, hundreds of Palestinians were seen marching north on Friday.

Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was calm on Friday, a day after the Lebanese Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the largest number of attacks in a single day since fighting there began on October 8.

Hezbollah has not commented publicly on whether it is respecting the ceasefire, but they were widely expected to halt their attacks.

The war broke out when several thousand Hamas fighters broke out Invasion of southern IsraelKilling at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking dozens of hostages, including children, women, and the elderly, in addition to soldiers. Hamas is expected to demand a large number of high-profile prisoners in exchange for soldiers.

The Israeli bombing, which has now entered its seventh week, has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to United Nations figures. The Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled Gaza StripWhich summarized his detailed count of casualties in Gaza since the war. The ministry has stopped publishing casualty reports since November 11, saying it had done so I lost the ability To do this because of the collapse of the health system in the north.

The new figures have not been fully detailed, but women and minors consistently make up about two-thirds of the dead. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north. The ministry says that about 6,000 people are considered missing and feared to be buried under the rubble.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in the death toll. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters without providing evidence of its count.

The army said that Israel continued to strike targets throughout the night before the incident, and also destroyed areas of tunnels and a number of tunnel openings in the area of ​​Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Israel showed off a tunnel and chambers that military officials said existed A big hideout for Hamas Under recovery. Hamas and hospital workers deny Israeli allegations that Al-Shifa Hospital was used as a command center for militants.

Netanyahu pledged to continue the war after the truth emerges to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza, and return all Palestinians. Their number is estimated at 240 prisoners Controlled by Hamas and other groups in Gaza.

Netanyahu said: “We will continue this until we achieve all our goals,” adding that he sent the same message in a phone call with US President Joe Biden. Washington has provided extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel since the beginning of the war.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant was quoted as telling the forces on Thursday that the rest period granted to them would be short and that the war would resume intensely for at least another two months.

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Mrou reported from Beirut and Rising wrote from Bangkok.

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Complete AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.