A few hours before the deadline, set at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT), the Israeli Prime Minister warned that it was “a provisional ceasefire” and that Israel was keeping “the right to resume the war if necessary and with the support of the United States.
According to the terms of the agreement reached in the last days of Joe Biden’s presidency, hostilities must cease and 33 Israeli hostages must be released, in a first phase spread over six weeks.
In exchange, Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, with Egypt reporting “more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners” to be released during this first phase.
According to American President Joe Biden, the latter 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”, including 50 fuel trucks.
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.
In the conflict-ravaged Gaza Strip, many displaced Palestinians said they were in a hurry to return home.
“We are impatiently waiting for this moment, for life to return to normal (…) We want to frequent markets and public places in complete safety,” Ahmed Hamouda, a displaced Palestinian, told AFPTV in Deir el- Balah (center).
The agreement aims, according to Qatar, to lead to a definitive end to the war, triggered by a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The attack resulted in the deaths 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 Israeli army.
At least 46,899 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry deemed reliable by the UN.
-Considerably weakened, Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, is however still far from being wiped out, contrary to the objective set by Benjamin Netanyahu, according to experts.
But after more than a year of laborious negotiations, a ceasefire agreement was finally announced on Wednesday.
The Israeli government approved it late Friday night, after the green light from Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Hostages will be released on Sunday, the Israeli government announced, without specifying their number or at what time.
Three reception points have been set up on Israel’s southern border with Gaza, at the Kerem Shalom and Eretz crossings and at the one near Kibbutz Reim, a military official said. The captives will be taken care of by doctors.
According to sources close to Hamas, the first group of hostages released should include three Israeli women.
Mr. Netanyahu demanded on Saturday evening to receive “the list” of hostages to be released on Sunday before being able to proceed with the first exchange of prisoners.
Israel designated 95 Palestinian detainees for release on Sunday, the majority women and minors, most of them arrested after October 7. Their release will take place after 2:00 p.m. GMT, according to the authorities.
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.
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.
“When they cross the (Gaza) border and are reunited with their families, then maybe we can breathe again,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, nephew of a deceased hostage, told AFP on Saturday evening , during a demonstration in Tel Aviv.
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