The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday morning, three hours late.
Hamas finally communicated the list of the first three hostages to be released this Sunday. They are three women: Rumi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Shtanbar Khair.
In the process, Israel announced the start of the ceasefire at 11:15 a.m. local time (10:15 a.m. Paris time).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said Hamas had failed to honor its commitment to provide the names of the first three hostages it was to release this Sunday in exchange for a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
As a result, Israeli strikes continued on Sunday morning, killing at least eight people and injuring 25, according to Gaza Civil Defense.
Hamas attributed the delay in handing over the names to “field technical reasons”.
Minutes after the ceasefire came into effect, the first humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, according to a United Nations official.
Israeli hostages versus Palestinian prisoners
The ceasefire, reached after a year of intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, is the first step in a long and fragile process aimed at ending the 15-month-old war. .
The 42 days of the first phase of the ceasefire are expected to see the return of 33 hostages from Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli forces are expected to withdraw to a buffer zone inside Gaza and many displaced Palestinians should be able to return home. The devastated territory should also benefit from an influx of humanitarian aid.
It is only the second ceasefire in the war, longer and more significant than the week-long pause observed more than a year ago, and could end the fighting for good.
Negotiations on the much more difficult second phase of this ceasefire are expected to begin in just over two weeks. Important questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first six-week phase and how the rest of Gaza’s 100 hostages will be freed.
