The Gaza ceasefire deal finally came into effect on Sunday after the Hamas group shared the names of the three hostages to be released by them with Israeli officials.
Confirming the development, Israel‘s Prime Minister’s Office posted on X: “Israel has received the list of the hostages who are due to be released today according to the framework. The security establishment is now checking the details.”
“Pursuant to the framework for the release of the hostages, the ceasefire of the first stage in Gaza will take effect at 11:15,” read another X post.
Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said that they had heard no new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before it was finally implemented.
However, Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks killed 13 Palestinians between 0630 GMT, when the ceasefire was meant to begin, and 0915 GMT, when it actually took effect, Palestinian medics said.
Delayed Ceasefire
The ceasefire became effective after it was delayed for several hours.
Israeli forces continued to hit Gaza amid the delay which left several Palestinians dead, media reports said.
The strikes killed six people in the Al-Shaaf neighbourhood east of Gaza City, three north of Gaza City, as well as one in the southernmost city, Rafah, according to officials at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and civil defence, reported CNN.
Israel blamed Hamas for the delay after the Palestinian militant group failed to provide a list naming the first three hostages to be released under the deal.
Hamas attributed the delay to “technical” reasons, without specifying what those were.
A Palestinian official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the delay occurred because mediators had asked for 48 hours of “calm” before the ceasefire’s implementation, but continued Israeli strikes right up until the deadline had made it difficult to send the list.
Meanwhile, Shahaf, the brother of one of the hostages named Romi Gonen, said the name of her sister is on the list of people who will be released by Hamas on Sunday.
In a post to his Instagram account, Romi’s brother Shahaf writes that she “is on the list. It’s official. Good luck to us all, reported The Times of Israel.
Romi was taken hostage by Hamas members when they attacked the Nova festival on October 7, 2023.
Of the 251 people taken hostage, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34, the Israeli military says, are dead.
Landmark Agreement
Ending a 15-month-long war, Israel and Hamas reached a landmark agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as exchanging of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
This agreement comes after months of intense negotiations carried out by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the support of the United States.
The overall toll in the Israel-Hamas war is more than 46,000 with hundreds of thousands getting displaced and struggling to survive in makeshift shelters.
In Israel, the return of the hostages is expected to ease public anger against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, who have faced severe criticism for the October 7 security failure that led to the deadliest single day in Israel’s history.
The agreement marks a significant shift in the dynamics of the conflict, coming after Israel’s successful assassinations of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
(With inputs from IBNS and Reuters)
