The Forum of Israeli Hostage Families confirmed to AFP on Sunday the names of the three young women, including a British-Israeli, to be released on Sunday in the first exchange with Palestinian prisoners provided for by the truce agreement between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. The latter declared that he expected to receive “shortly” a list of “90 Palestinian prisoners” to be released by Israel on Sunday in exchange for the Israeli hostages.
They are Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher, captured at kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Romi Gonen, kidnapped at the Nova music festival, the Forum confirmed to AFP. All three are Israeli. Emily Damari also has British nationality and Doron Steinbrecher has Romanian nationality.
According to the Hostage Families Forum, Romi Gonen is 24 years old, Doron Steinbrecher is 31 years old and Emily Damari is 28 years old.
On the eve of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the guns fell silent at 09:15 GMT, almost three hours behind schedule, as Hamas was late in providing the list of three female hostages to be released during the day.
The entry into force of the agreement raises hopes for lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that his army could take up arms again.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians return home
Even before the suspension of hostilities, thousands of displaced Palestinians carrying their belongings took the road to return home, through the devastated territory.
On board vans or on foot, some all smiles make the V for victory, others share sweets or brandish the Palestinian flag. But in Jabalia in the far north of Gaza, joy mixes with dismay at the apocalyptic landscape of rubble left by an intense Israeli military operation. “There is nothing left in the north, it has become unlivable,” laments Walid Abou Jiab, who has just returned home.
In the interval between the scheduled start of the truce and its effective entry into force, Israel carried out new strikes in Gaza. Hamas justified its delay in handing over the list of hostages by “complications on the ground and the continuation of the bombings”.
Once the list was communicated, Israel announced the entry into force of the ceasefire at 09:15 GMT, subsequently confirmed by Qatar.
“A provisional ceasefire”
Achieved on Wednesday by the mediators – Qatar, United States, Egypt – the agreement ultimately aims, according to Doha, to lead to the “definitive end” of the war, triggered by the bloody attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7 2023.
But Benjamin Netanyahu warned that it was “a provisional ceasefire”, and reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary and with the support of the United States”. His Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, also warned of a persistence of “regional instability” if the terrorist organization Hamas remains in power in Gaza.
Hostile to the truce, the party of Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir announced that it was leaving the ruling coalition, which nevertheless remains in the majority in Parliament.
-Under the terms of the agreement, hostilities must cease and 33 Israeli hostages be released, in an initial phase of six weeks. In exchange, Israeli authorities said they would release 1,904 Palestinians within this deadline.
Three reception points for Israeli hostages have been set up on Israel’s border with Gaza, a military official said.
Two Franco-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, are among the 33 hostages who can be released, according to Paris. They were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with several of their children, released during an initial one-week truce in November 2023.
A list containing the names of 90 Palestinian prisoners expected
Israel designated 90 Palestinian detainees for release on Sunday, the majority women and minors, most of them arrested after October 7.
“It is expected that the occupation will shortly transmit a list containing the names of 90 prisoners (…), women and children, who must be released on the first day of the ceasefire,” declared the Hamas in a statement.
He said the truce agreement stipulated “the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one civilian detainee (hostage),” adding that the 90 prisoners expected to be released on Sunday would be chosen from a submitted list of 120 women. and children.
Among the prisoners expected to be released is Zakaria al-Zoubeidi, responsible for anti-Israeli attacks and former local leader of the armed wing of Fatah, arrested and imprisoned in 2019.
According to US President Joe Biden, the first phase of the agreement also includes an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid in the territory threatened by famine according to the UN.
Egyptian authorities specified that the agreement provided for “the entry of 600 aid trucks per day”.
During the first phase, the modalities of the second will be negotiated, which should allow the release of the last hostages, before the third and final stage devoted to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restitution of the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.
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