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The truce between Israel and Hamas, which was due to take effect Sunday morning, was delayed after Hamas failed to provide the names of hostages scheduled to be released later in the day for what it called ” technical reasons”.
The six-week truce – the first step in a multi-phase deal that would end the war in Gaza and pave the way for the release of hostages still held in the enclave by the Palestinian militant group – was due to take effect at 8:30 a.m. . am local time (06:30 GMT).
But, in a sign of the fragility of the arrangements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared shortly before the ceasefire came into force that it would not begin until Hamas had provided Israel with a list of three hostages who would be released on Sunday.
In a brief statement minutes later, Hamas said the delay in providing the names was due to “technical reasons on the ground,” without elaborating, but insisted it remained committed to the agreement.
As the ceasefire deadline passed and spontaneous celebrations spread across Gaza, where many displaced people prepared to return home, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel would continue its strikes until Hamas provided the names.
Shortly after, the army said it had hit targets in northern and central Gaza. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported bombings and explosions in several locations in the enclave and said nine people had been killed.
If the truce is applied as initially planned, Hamas will release three of the 98 hostages it still holds in Gaza on Sunday. In exchange, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners.
The multi-phase deal offers hope of a halt – and potentially an end – to the bloodiest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has left Gaza in ruins, consumed Israeli society and brought the Middle East to the brink of complete chaos. -a blown war.
The fighting was sparked by Hamas’ shock attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took another 250 hostages in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded with a devastating attack on Gaza, which killed more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, in addition to displacing most of the coastal enclave’s 2.3 million residents and fueling a humanitarian catastrophe .
After more than six months of failed attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, mediators announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a three-phase deal, initially outlined by US President Joe Biden in May from last year.
The first phase involves a six-week truce, during which Hamas will release a total of 33 hostages – including children, women, the sick and the elderly – in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
In the first phase of the agreement, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return home, including to northern Gaza. There will also be a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a massive influx of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
If the agreement is implemented as planned, on the 16th day of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin negotiating the details of the second phase of the agreement, during which the remaining hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, according to the full agreement. withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and definitive end of the war.
The final phase will involve the return of the remaining bodies of the deceased hostages, as well as the start of the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
However, doubts remain over whether the deal will be fully implemented, with Netanyahu under intense pressure from far-right members of his coalition to resume the war at the end of the first stage of the ‘agreement.
On Sunday, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir withdrew his Jewish Power party from the government to protest the deal, reducing Netanyahu’s majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament to just two.
Ben-Gvir’s ultranationalist ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has also threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if the war does not resume after the first stage of the agreement. If he did so, it would deprive Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority.
