The four-day truce between Israel’s military and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which is expected to lead to the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip and in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, took effect at 07:00 (local time and Cyprus time).
The “humanitarian pause” in military operations, agreed in negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, marks the 49th day of the Israel/Hamas war.
⭕️Watch this important message from the IDF Spokesperson for Arab media, @AvichayAdraeeto the civilians of Gaza:
”The war is not over yet. The humanitarian pause is temporary. The northern Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move north. For your safety,… pic.twitter.com/4gaJDxgy5I
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 24, 2023
In the first release of Hamas hostages held in Gaza, scheduled for 4 p.m., 13 women and children will be freed, according to Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari.
The list of the names of the hostages to be released by Hamas has already been delivered. Al-Ansari could not give details of the route they might take for security reasons, but revealed that the first group to be released will include members of the same families.
The hostages will enter Israel at two locations, the Nitzana border crossing with Egypt and directly through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Gaza, an Israeli official said.
Israel and Hamas are set to initiate a four-day truce on Friday, Qatari spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said, marking the first agreement in the nearly seven-week conflict. The ceasefire, starting at 7 a.m. local time, covers both north and south Gaza pic.twitter.com/GAf8V4jGEi
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 24, 2023
Once back on Israeli soil, the freed hostages will be flown by helicopter to two hospitals near Tel Aviv.
“Israel confirms it has received a first list of names. Those in charge are verifying the details of the list and are in contact with all the families,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement. It is not clear if he is talking about all the hostages, all the persons who will be released or the first hostages who will be released today.
The Israeli government also said that the families of the hostages who will not be released have also been informed. Al-Ansari also revealed that hostages from the same families will be released together in the first group.
The 3-year-old American girl may be among the first hostages to be released by Hamas. US President Joe Biden said he hoped all would go well and that Abigail Morethan, who lost both her parents in the October 7 attacks, would be among the hostages to be freed today. However, he said he would not provide further updates until the deal is complete.
At the same time a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released as part of the deal. The detainees will be taken from two prisons – Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa – and taken to Ofer prison, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross. These are women and teenagers up to 18 years old. A Palestinian official said yesterday that he had not yet received a list of the names of those expected to be released from Israeli prisons.
The timing of the release was unclear, but an Israeli official said the prisoners would not be released until the hostages from Gaza were returned to Israeli hands. Trucks with humanitarian aid will enter the Palestinian enclave after the agreed ceasefire begins, he added.
Source: protothema.gr
