Israel – Hamas will begin Sunday morning says Qatar

The truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will enter into force tomorrow at 08:30 (local time and time of Greece), Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman in X announced today. The Israeli government approved this morning the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which is due to enter into force tomorrow Sunday, when the first Israeli hostages will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. CORVERSE The agreement, originally announced Wednesday by Qatar and the US, aims to lead “to the final end of the war”, which for more than 15 months has caused tens of thousands of victims in the Gaza Strip, according to Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman al Thani. However, pending the start of the truce, which is set for Sunday, on the eve of the inauguration of the newly formed US President Donald Trump, the Israeli army continued its air attacks on the Palestinian enclave, causing over 100 dead as of Wednesday, according to Palestinian political protection. The Israeli cabinet approved the agreement this morning, despite the opposition of far-right ministers. The truce is expected to enter into force Sunday, but the Israeli government did not specify the exact time. CORVERSE Hamas has already announced that she approves the terms of the agreement and has pledged to respect them. In its statement in favour of the agreement the Israeli Security Council said that, “after considering all political humanitarian aspects and security aspects of the proposed agreement”, it estimated that it supports “the achievement of the objectives of the war”. The agreement provides for a first six-week phase during which 33 hostages held in Gaza Strip will be released from the 7 October 2023. In return Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners, the Justice Ministry announced, clarifying that their release will not take place before 16:00 on Sunday (local time and time of Greece). Among the prisoners to be released are Zakaria Zubeidi, responsible for many attacks on Israeli citizens and former head of the Al Aksha Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, who had escaped from an Israeli prison in 2021. During the first phase negotiations on the final end of hostilities will begin. The first hostage releases are expected tomorrow Sunday, the Israeli government announced. According to an Israeli army officer, three reception points have been created at the Gaza border, where the hostages, who will be taken over by doctors, will be sent to hospitals. According to two sources adjacent to Hamas, three Israelis are expected to be included in the first group. Israeli authorities announced last Friday the 95 list Palestinian prisoners to be released on Sunday, mostly women and minors, most of whom had been arrested after October 7. They also stated that they had taken steps to ‘prevent any public manifestation of joy’ after their release. Two French-Israeli – Opher Calderon, 54, and Ohad Yalomi, 50 years old – are included in the list of 33 first hostages to be released, according to Paris. Both had been kidnapped by kibbutz Nir Oz along with many of their children, released during the first truce, in November 2023. “This is the moment we have been waiting for (…), I really hope to see my grandfather return home, standing, alive,” said Daniel Leafsidge, grandson of Odd Liftsitz, 84, who was also held hostage in Nir Oz on Friday. Before the Palestinian displaced persons expelled from the bombs and battles even enter into force, they are preparing to return home. “I will (…) remove the debris from the house and place my tent above the ruins,” said Um Khalil Bakr displaced to Nusyrat. “We know it will be cold and we will not have blankets to sleep, but what matters is to return to our land,” added this mother of ten children. Many “will find their neighborhood completely destroyed” without any basic service, Mohammed Hatib of the Medical Aid for Palestine organization located in Gaza warned. “The pain will continue (…), but at least there is hope,” he added, while humanitarian organisations estimate they will face serious obstacles in trying to help the Palestinians in Gaza. The war, which has caused Gaza levels of disasters “original in recent history”, according to the UN, began on 7 October 2023 with Hamas’ attack on Israeli territory. The attack killed 1,210 Israelis, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli elements. Of the 251 people kidnapped from Hamas, 94 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead, according to the Israeli army. At least 46,876 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas Government Health Ministry which are considered reliable by the UN. The deal, a result of tough negotiations, went ahead with Donald Trump’s return Monday to the White House. In addition to the first hostage releases, the first phase includes, according to American President Joe Biden, “full cease-fire”, Israel’s departure from the densely populated Gaza areas and the increase in humanitarian aid entering the enclave. The second phase will allow the release of the last hostages, before the third and final phase concerning the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of the hostages who died. During the first phase, negotiations will take place on the terms of the second, namely “the final end of the war”, al Thani noted. Yesterday Friday mediators from Egypt, Qatar, the US and Israel agreed to create a joint business hall in Cairo in order to “secure effective coordination”, compliance with the terms of the truce, but also to facilitate the entry into Gaza of 600 humanitarian aid trucks daily, as stated by an Egyptian source on al Qahera News. The Gaza Strip – in which Israel has imposed a blockade since 2007 – has been levelled by the war and almost all of its 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced at least once. The ceasefire does not specify who will take over Gaza’s rule, where Hamas has been in power since 2007. The Palestinian Authority, a rival to the Islamist movement, is ready to “take full responsibility” in Gaza, Mahmoud Abbas’s president said yesterday Friday in his first statement after the agreement was announced. Although it has been significantly weakened, Hamas has not been eliminated, experts appreciate, despite the goal set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.