January 19, 2025Reuters
By Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, Nidal al-Mughrabi et James Mackenzie
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had recovered the first three Israeli hostages, after fighting in the Gaza Strip ceased on Sunday as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached. into force after a brief postponement, putting at least a temporary end to a conflict that began 15 months ago.
According to live television images, three female hostages extricated themselves from a vehicle surrounded by Hamas gunmen before entering a car of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Red Cross told Israel that the three women were in good health, an Israeli official told Reuters.
Shortly after, the Israeli army declared that it had recovered the three hostages who then arrived in Israeli territory.
The hostages were identified by the prime minister’s office as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, according to a list released earlier by Hamas.
The truce entered into force late at 9:15 a.m. GMT, with Israel accusing the Islamist group of being behind the delay in implementing the truce agreement, with Hamas delaying publishing the list of hostages released on Sunday .
Hamas said “technical” reasons were behind the delay, without elaborating.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the delay to Israeli air and ground bombardments, saying it was materially difficult to send the list to mediators.
Israeli airstrikes, artillery fire and tank attacks continued in the northern Gaza Strip after 0630 GMT, the initial time the truce took effect, Gaza-based rescue workers said.
This offensive killed at least 13 Palestinians and injured dozens before the ceasefire actually came into effect at 9:15 a.m. GMT, rescuers noted. The Israeli army, for its part, declared that it had carried out air and artillery strikes against “terrorist targets”.
In the Palestinian enclave, residents and a Gaza medical staffer said they had not seen signs of new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before the ban took effect. ‘agreement.
END OF THE WAR IN GAZA?
The much-anticipated 42-day ceasefire deal could pave the way for an end to the Gaza war, which has sparked a wave of fighting in the Middle East pitting Israel and its Western allies against Iran and to Tehran-backed paramilitary groups, including Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Iraqi militias.
The agreement negotiated in Qatar provides for a first phase including an initial six-week truce accompanied by the release of 33 of the 98 hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the attack on October 7, 2023. In return, Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
Among the 33 hostages released during this first phase, are two French people, Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, according to the Elysée, which reports that Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday with the families of the two hostages.
-“The head of state assured their families that all state services have been mobilized to work for their release since October 7, in full coordination with mediators and the State of Israel. »
In the Palestinian enclave, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of the Gaza Strip on Sunday after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force, some to rejoice, others to protest. visit the graves of their loved ones, while many were eager to find out what had become of their homes.
In the hours before the ceasefire took effect, long lines of trucks carrying fuel and humanitarian aid formed at border crossings. The World Food Program (WFP) said it began crossing the border on Sunday morning.
The agreement calls for 600 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip each day during the first six weeks of the ceasefire, including 50 trucks carrying fuel.
RESIGNATION
In Israel, this agreement is not unanimous, even within the government. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and two other ministers from his nationalist-religious party have resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the Gaza ceasefire deal, it was announced on Sunday their political training.
The Otzma Yehudit party has said it is no longer part of the ruling coalition in Israel, without however seeking to bring down the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for his part, threatened on Sunday to leave the coalition government if Israel ended the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Bezalel Smotrich leads the National Religious Party, a far-right group that is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Hamas, which controls the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza, started the war by attacking towns in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Most of them have since been released or killed.
In addition, 400 Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s bombing of Gaza in retaliation against Hamas has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health officials. They include thousands of Hamas fighters and the group’s top military leaders, but the U.N. human rights office says the majority of deaths it has verified are women and children.
The assault destroyed the territory’s infrastructure and left almost all of its 2.3 million residents homeless.
(Reporting James Mackenzie, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, Andrew Mills, Menna Alaa al-Din, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Alexander Cornwell; edited by John Davison; française version Claude Chendjou)
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