Gaza ceasefire deal takes effect after delay
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.
Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said they had heard no new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before it was finally implemented.
But 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.
Israel blamed Hamas for the delay after the Palestinian militant group had yet to provide a list of the first three hostages to be released under the deal.
A Palestinian official 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.
In a statement, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: “The prime minister instructed the IDF (military) that the ceasefire, which is scheduled to take effect at 8:30 am, will not begin until Israel has received the list of released hostages, as Hamas has committed to providing.”
Two hours after the deadline, Hamas said it had sent the list of names, and Israeli officials confirmed receipt. Hamas named the hostages it was to release on Sunday as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.
‘Terror targets’
The highly anticipated ceasefire deal could help usher in an end to the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the tiny coastal territory, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
The war also set off a confrontation throughout the Middle East between Israel and its arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas and other anti-Israeli and anti-American paramilitary forces across the region.
Israeli military spokespeople said in separate statements on Sunday that their aircraft and artillery had attacked “terror targets” in northern and central Gaza, and that the military would continue to attack the strip as long as Hamas did not meet its obligations under the ceasefire.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said at least 13 people were killed in the Israeli attacks and dozens wounded. Medics reported tanks firing at the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, and said that an airstrike and tank fire also hit the northern town of Beit Hanoun, sending residents who had returned there in anticipation of the ceasefire fleeing.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement followed months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Hostage deal
Its first stage will last six weeks, during which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
They include 737 male, female and teen-aged prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza in detention since the start of the war.
