Jerusalem:

After hours of delay, a Gaza ceasefire came into force on Sunday when Hamas released the names of the first three Israeli hostages to be freed, ending a 15-month-old war that has wreaked havoc and rocked the Middle East. Has changed. Israel said the cease-fire with Hamas began in Gaza at 11:15 a.m. local time (09:15 GMT and 2:45 p.m. IST), about three hours later than originally scheduled, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. After a last-minute delay at Yahoo’s behest. .

During the delay, Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said the Israeli army continued to attack several people in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military has also confirmed that it is continuing its “offensive into the Gaza Strip” following Netanyahu’s directive.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery strikes killed 13 Palestinians between 8:30 a.m. local time, a Palestinian medic said.

Delay in deal execution

In a statement released an hour before the cease-fire began, Netanyahu’s office said he had “instructed the IDF (military) that the cease-fire will not begin until Israel is freed from the hostages.” Cannot find release list”. .

Meanwhile, Hamas attributed the delay in sharing the list to “technical reasons” as well as “complications of the situation on the ground and continued bombardment”, released on Sunday about three hours after the names of the three Israeli women were finally published. will be done. Deadline

A Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters that the delay occurred because mediators had called for 48 hours of “calm” before the truce came into force, but Israeli attacks continued until the deadline was met. Don’t make it hard to send.

Two hours after the deadline, Israel confirmed it had received the list and was “checking the details”, shortly before confirming the cease-fire at 11am local time: It will start at 15.

Hamas reportedly named the hostages it was supposed to release on Sunday as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.

Also read: Gaza ceasefire: Hamas to release list of 33 Israeli hostages in first phase of deal

Israel Hamas war

The ceasefire agreement could help end the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the small coastal enclave, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people. . Israel’s response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians.

The war also sparked a confrontation across the Middle East between Israel and its arch-rival Iran, which supports Hamas and other anti-Israel and anti-US paramilitary groups such as Hezbollah.

The cease-fire followed months of negotiations by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt in a three-phase deal, and comes into effect when Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.

Its first phase will last six weeks, during which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages – women, children, men over 50, sick and injured – will be released in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. .

They include 737 men, women and juvenile detainees, some of whom are members of militant groups responsible for attacks that have detained dozens of Israelis as well as hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war. was

The first three are female hostages expected to be released by the Red Cross on Sunday. 30 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are to be freed for each one.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas will notify the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) where the meeting point will be inside Gaza and the ICRC is expected to drive to the location to collect the hostages. will initiate, an official involved in the process. told Reuters.




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