Ceasefire takes effect in Gaza

(Jerusalem) Thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza took to the roads on Sunday to return home amid destruction, on the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas providing for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the guns fell silent at 4:15 a.m. (Eastern time), almost three hours behind schedule, as Hamas was late in providing the list of three Israeli women to be released today.

According to the Hostage Families Forum, these are British-Israeli Emily Damari and Romanian-Israeli Doron Steinbrecher, captured at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Romi Gonen, kidnapped at the Nova music festival, during of the attack carried out by the Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel.

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.

Even before the suspension of hostilities, thousands of displaced Palestinians took the road to return home, through the territory devastated by more than 15 months of war, according to AFP images.

On board vans or on foot, some all smiles made the “V” for victory, others shared sweets or brandished the Palestinian flag.

“Unlivable”

But in Jabalia in the far north of Gaza, joy mixes with dismay at the apocalyptic landscape of rubble left by Israeli military operations.

“There is nothing left in the north, it has become unlivable,” laments Walid Abou Jiab, who has just returned home.

Hooded and armed Hamas fighters marched in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the small Palestinian territory where the vast majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced.

In the interval between the scheduled start of the truce and its effective entry into force, Israel carried out strikes in Gaza which killed eight Palestinians according to local Civil Defense.

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 released, Israel announced that the ceasefire would come into effect at 4:15 a.m. (Eastern Time).

Netanyahu’s warning

Achieved on Wednesday by the mediators – Qatar, United States, Egypt – the agreement aims ultimately, according to Doha, to lead to the “definitive end” of the war, triggered by the attack of October 7.

But Benjamin Netanyahu warned that it was “a provisional ceasefire” and reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary”.

His head of diplomacy Gideon Saar also warned of a persistence of “regional instability” if Hamas, classified as terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union, remained in power in Gaza.

Hostile to the truce, the party of Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir (far right) announced that it was leaving Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition, which nevertheless remains in the majority in Parliament.

“Joy” and “regret”

Under the terms of the agreement, hostilities must cease and 33 Israeli hostages be released, in an initial phase of six weeks. Three hostage reception points have been set up on Israel’s border with Gaza, according to a military official.

In exchange, the Israeli authorities said they would release 1,904 Palestinians within this deadline, 90 of whom should be released on Sunday, according to Hamas, which said it expected the list “shortly”.

Two Franco-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, are among the 33 hostages who can be released, according to Paris.

In Tel Aviv, Maya Roman, cousin of a hostage already released and another, Carmel Gat, who died in captivity, feels “incredible joy and at the same time regret” for the captives killed in Gaza during the months taken to conclude an agreement.

Among the Palestinian 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.

600 aid trucks

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.

According to Egypt, the agreement provides for “the entry of 600 aid trucks per day”. An Egyptian official said that “197 trucks of aid and five of fuel entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and two other crossings on the Egypt-Israel border after the truce.”

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 October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 94 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 dead according to the Israeli army.

At least 46,913 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.