A four-day ceasefire came into effect in Gaza after weeks of war as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas to free dozens of hostages taken during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
After hours of deliberation, Israeli leaders agreed to enact a ceasefire at 7 a.m. local time on Friday (12 a.m. EST), the first major pause in the war.
According to Reuters, in the first hours of the pause there were no major reports of shelling, artillery strikes or rocket launches.
Sirens sounded in two Israeli villages on the southern outskirts of Gaza, warning of possible Palestinian rockets. An Israeli government spokesman said Hamas had carried out a rocket launch that violated the truce, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
Under the deal, brokered by Qatar, Hamas will release 50 women and children during the ceasefire, and Israel will agree to extend the “humanitarian pause” by one more day for every 10 additional hostages released.
The first group of 13 Israeli women and children hostages are expected to be freed later on Friday.
According to Israel, Hamas is holding around 240 hostages in Gaza.
The numbers include about 10 Americans, U.S. officials said.
Israeli soldiers operating in Gaza will participate in a four-day ceasefire starting Friday.ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The ceasefire will guarantee the release of 50 women and children taken hostage by Hamas.AFP via Getty Images
Along with the ceasefire, the Jewish nation will release 150 Palestinian women and minors currently detained in Israel.
As the exchange takes place, Gaza is also expected to see an influx of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and fuel, arrive after weeks in which hospitals saw their resources dwindle.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the release of the hostages will occur in five phases, in the first of which the women and children will be handed over to the Red Cross and then detained by the IDF.
The hostages will undergo medical checks before being sent to Israeli hospitals to be reunited with their families.
The pause in the conflict comes after Gaza was devastated by weeks of Israeli airstrikes. AFP via Getty Images
In the fourth stage, the hostages will be interviewed by medical and military personnel to determine if they are well enough to inform officials about everything that has happened to them since they were kidnapped on October 7.
In the final stage, the former hostages will speak formally with Israeli security officials.
Israel’s military said on social media early Friday that it had completed operational preparations in line with the pause’s defensive positions.
“Early this morning, our troops destroyed a route of underground terrorist tunnels and tunnel shafts in the Shifa Hospital area,” the Israel Defense Forces tweeted. “In addition, during the last day, our troops attacked several terrorist targets by land, air and sea.”
Israel has made clear that the ceasefire is only a temporary cessation of fighting.
The IDF warned hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza to remain there and not attempt to return to their homes in the northern part of the war-torn strip.
Arabic-language leaflets were dropped over southern Gaza on Friday saying the war is not over yet.
“Returning to the north is prohibited and very dangerous,” the leaflets said. “Your destiny and that of your families is in your hands. We have warned you.”
President Biden said he welcomes the “agreement to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist group Hamas.”
“Today’s deal should bring home more American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all freed,” Biden said after the deal was announced Tuesday night.
The ceasefire includes an increase in aid delivered to Gaza. AFP via Getty Images
Despite negotiators’ hopes that the deal will prompt new ceasefires in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis and more than 12,000 Palestinians, Netanyahu has said peace will not be an option until eradicate Hamas.
“I would like to make it clear here again: the war continues, the war will continue until we achieve all our objectives: eliminating Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a statement ahead of the hostage deal.
“To return all our hostages, to ensure that the day after Hamas, Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel, that there is no element in it that supports terrorism, that educates its children in terrorism and that threatens the State of Israel. .”
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn