A temporary truce and the release of dozens of prisoners captured by the Palestinian armed group Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7 will not begin until Friday, Tel Aviv said, as Israeli forces continue to bombard the besieged enclave of Gaza.
The release is part of a temporary truce, initially planned to last four days, agreed to by Israel and Hamas on Wednesday and which also includes the deployment of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The captives are supposed to be exchanged for a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
“Negotiations on the release of our hostages are progressing and continuing constantly,” Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The start of the release will take place in accordance with the initial agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” the statement said.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan, citing an unidentified Israeli official, reported that there was a 24-hour delay because the deal had not been signed by Hamas and Qatar, which was the main mediator in the agreement. The official said he was optimistic about the implementation of the agreement once signed.
“No one said there would be a release tomorrow, except the media… We had to clarify that no release was planned before Friday, due to the uncertainty facing the families of the hostages,” Kan quoted an anonymous source within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin as saying. Netanyahu’s office said so.
Other Israeli media outlets published similar reports, citing unnamed officials, that the pause in fighting with Hamas would not begin until Friday.
More than 14,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its attacks on the territory in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel that left at least 1,200 dead.
Around 240 people have been captured by Hamas fighters, and only four have been released so far.
There were approximately 5,200 Palestinians in Israeli prisons before October 7, although that number more than doubled in the weeks that followed, according to Palestinian authorities.
Amid the apparent delay in the truce agreement, Israeli aircraft and artillery struck the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis in at least two waves early Thursday.
In Israel, sirens warning of rocket fire from Gaza sounded in communities near the border with the enclave, the army said. No damage or injuries were reported.
Tensions also escalated Thursday morning on Israel’s northern border after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group said five of its fighters, including the son of a senior lawmaker, had been killed.
In the Red Sea, US Central Command said the USS Thomas Hudner had “downed several one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen”, referring to another group backed by the Iran.
“I want everyone to come back”
This delay has caused frustration among families on both sides.
Under the terms of the agreement, 50 Hamas prisoners are to be released, with a minimum of 10 people released each day.
“We don’t know who will come out because Hamas will publish every evening the names of those who will come out the next day,” said Gilad Korngold, who was still waiting for news from his relatives. Seven members of his family, including his three-year-old granddaughter, were kidnapped by Hamas.
“I want everyone back. But I think – and this is a very difficult decision – but I think children and women should be (first). They are the most fragile. You know, they have to come out.
Netanyahu’s office said the truce could be extended on the condition that ten more hostages were released each day.
On Israel’s list of 300 eligible Palestinian prisoners, including 123 children and 33 women, is Shorouq Dwayyat, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for attempted murder in a 2015 stabbing attack. Activists say she is one of many Palestinian women to have been unfairly tried and convicted on unjust or fabricated charges.
“I had hoped she would make a deal,” said her mother, Sameera Dwayyat, but added that her relief was tempered by “a great pain in my heart” over the dead children in Gaza.
The United States also hopes that aid will begin arriving in large quantities in Gaza in the coming days, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Hamas said the first 50 captives would be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children imprisoned in Israel. Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian, medical and fuel supplies would enter Gaza, while Israel would stop all air sorties over southern Gaza and maintain a six-hour daily no-fly window in the north, he added.
The truce deal, the first in a war that lasted nearly seven weeks, was reached after mediation by Qatar and seen by governments around the world as likely to ease suffering in the Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people.
In a statement shared by US media, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson stressed that the agreement “has been reached and remains agreed.”
“The parties are working on final logistical details, particularly for the first day of implementation,” Watson told CBS News and CNN.
“We believe that nothing should be left to chance as the hostages begin to return home. Our primary goal is to ensure they are brought home safely. This is well underway and we expect implementation to begin Friday morning.