After hours of delay, a Gaza ceasefire took effect on Sunday when Hamas released the names of the first three Israeli hostages to be freed, ending a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East. Israel said a ceasefire with Hamas began in Gaza at 11:15 am local time (09:15 GMT and 2:45 pm IST), after a last-minute delay on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which initially It was about three hours later than scheduled. ,
During the delay, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces continued to attack several people in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military also confirmed that it was continuing to “conduct strikes within the Gaza Strip” following Netanyahu’s instructions.
Palestinian medics said 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks between 8:30 a.m. local time – when the ceasefire was supposed to begin, and 11:15 a.m. – when it actually took effect.
Delay in deal implementation
In a statement released less than an hour before the ceasefire was to begin, Netanyahu’s office said he had “instructed the IDF (army) that the ceasefire… will not begin until Israel has freed the hostages.” The list is not available.
Meanwhile, Hamas blamed “technical reasons” as well as “the complexities of the situation in the area and the continued bombardment” for the delay in sharing the list, with the names of the three Israeli women finally released about three hours later on Sunday. Deadline.
A Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters that the delay was because mediators had asked for 48 hours of “calm” before the implementation of the ceasefire, but Israeli attacks continued as the deadline passed, making it difficult to send the list.
Two hours after the deadline, Israel confirmed that it had received the list and was “checking the details”, shortly after confirming that the ceasefire would begin at 11:15 am local time.
Hamas reportedly named the hostages to be released on Sunday as Romy Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.
Also read: Gaza ceasefire: Hamas to release list of 33 Israeli hostages in first phase of agreement
Israel-Hamas war
The ceasefire agreement could help end the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the small coastal territory, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people. Israel’s response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed some 47,000 Palestinians.
The war set off a confrontation across the Middle East between Israel and its archenemy Iran, which supports Hamas and other anti-Israel and anti-American paramilitaries such as Hezbollah.
The ceasefire followed a three-phase agreement brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt after months of negotiations and came into effect on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President.
Its first phase will last six weeks, during which 33 of the 98 remaining hostages – women, children, men over 50, the sick and injured – will be released in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
They include 737 male, female and juvenile prisoners, some of whom are members of terrorist groups blamed for attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza detained since the beginning of the war. Are.
The first three female hostages are expected to be released on Sunday through the Red Cross. In exchange for each, 30 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons are to be released.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) where the meeting point will be inside Gaza and the ICRC is expected to begin moving to that location to collect the hostages, said an official involved in the process. Said. Told Reuters.
