The agreement on a truce in Gaza and releases of hostages must come into force on Sunday morning, the day after its approval on Saturday by Israel, after 15 months of a devastating war which left tens of thousands dead in the territory Palestinian.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded in Jerusalem, where explosions were heard, and in central Israel, after a projectile the army said was fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels say they are launching attacks against the Israeli territory “in solidarity” with the Palestinians.
The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (06:30 GMT), announced Qatar, one of the international mediators with Egypt and the United States who managed to obtain this agreement after more than a year of laborious negotiations.
In a first phase spread over six weeks, it provides for a cessation of hostilities and the release of 33 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 737 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Announced on Wednesday by the mediators, the agreement aims, according to the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, to ultimately lead to “a definitive end to the war”, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 during which the hostages were kidnapped.
But while waiting for the truce to begin, on the eve of Monday’s inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, the Israeli army continued its strikes on Gaza, which have left more than 100 dead since Wednesday, after rescue.
Israel’s cabinet approved the deal before dawn, after Hamas, considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union, did the same.
– “Standing, alive” –
Hostages will be released on Sunday, the Israeli government announced, without specifying their number. Three reception points have been set up on Israel’s southern border with Gaza, from where the captives, cared for by doctors, will be taken to hospitals, a military official said.
According to two sources close to Hamas, the first group of hostages released should be made up of three Israeli women.
Israeli authorities designated 95 Palestinian detainees for release on Sunday, the majority women and minors, most of whom were arrested after October 7. The Ministry of Justice has clarified that their release will not take place before 2:00 p.m. GMT on Sunday.
Among the prisoners expected to be released is Zakaria al-Zoubeidi, responsible for anti-Israeli attacks and former local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party.
Two Franco-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, are among the 33 hostages released during the first phase, 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.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. I really hope we see my grandfather come home, standing, alive,” said Daniel Lifshitz, grandson of Oded Lifshitz, 84, who was kidnapped in Nir Oz.
– “At least one hope” –
-In the Gaza Strip ravaged by Israeli aerial bombardments and ground offensive carried out in retaliation for the October 7 attack, the displaced – the vast majority of the approximately 2.4 million Palestinians – are preparing to return home.
“I will remove the rubble from the house and place my tent there,” said Oum Khalil Bakr, who fled Gaza City for Nousseirat. “We know it will be cold and we won’t have blankets to sleep on, but what matters is returning to our land.”
Many “will find their entire neighborhood destroyed” without any essential services, said Mohamed Khatib, of the Medical Aid for Palestine organization in Gaza: “The suffering will continue but at least there is hope.”
According to the UN, the war has caused a level of destruction “unprecedented in recent history” in the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel since October 2023.
It led to the death of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 94 are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead according to the army.
At least 46,876 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, already undermined by an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007, poverty and unemployment, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry deemed reliable by the UN.
– Trois phases –
In addition to hostage releases, the first phase of the agreement includes, according to US President Joe Biden, “a complete ceasefire”, an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas in Gaza and an increase in aid humanitarian.
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.
The ceasefire leaves in doubt the political future of Gaza, where Hamas took power in 2007.
The Palestinian Authority, rival of the Islamist movement, is ready to “fully assume its responsibilities” in Gaza, said its president Mahmoud Abbas.
Considerably weakened, Hamas is however still far from being wiped out, contrary to the objective set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to experts.
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