The ceasefire is set to pause the fighting after 15 months of war and see the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants in the Gaza Strip and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel
Hamas militants hand over hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in Gaza City.Hamas militants and civilians gather around a Red Cross vehicle before the release of hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing after a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect.
Families and friends of some of the Palestinians prisoners set to be released from Israel in exchange for hostages in Gaza gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag. The 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be released Sunday in exchange for three hostages held by Hamas include 69 women, according to a list provided to The Associated Press.The prisoners to be released include Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed group that has carried out attacks on Israelis.
“Rafah faces a humanitarian tragedy,” he said, as Palestinians across the territory are beginning to discover the scope of the destruction in the first hours of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.Anticipation is growing as the first signs emerge of the handover of the first three hostages set to be released.
His office said Macron spoke Saturday by phone with the families of two French-Israeli hostages still in captivity, Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi. Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli national, was kidnapped from her apartment on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a communal farming village hit hard by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Mencer adds, however, that Israel wants “all stages” of the phased ceasefire deal to come into effect. Negotiations on the ceasefire’s second phase are to start just over two weeks into the first phase that began Sunday. “Hostages starting to come out today! Three wonderful young women will be first,” Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the Gaza ceasefire and praised the role of mediators.
The Hamas-run police began deploying in public after mostly lying low due to Israeli air strikes. Gaza City residents said they had seen them operating in parts of the city, and the AP reporter in Khan Younis saw a small number out on the streets. “You can imagine that hostages who were subject to torture, abuse, sexual violence, deprived of food, water, sanitation, sunlight for so long – everyone is a humanitarian case, which is why we as families reject the notion this is a humanitarian deal,” he said.
Warplanes roared, helicopters thudded and drones buzzed overhead as smoke plumes rose from the rubble of northern Gaza, as seen from across the border with Israel. Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis confirmed the casualties from Sunday’s strike, which it said had occurred around two hours after the truce was supposed to take effect.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said a complicated operation involving elite commando forces returned the body of Oron Shaul overnight Saturday. Hadi referenced in a statement the agreements reached on implementing humanitarian components in the first phase of the ceasefire, including the provision of supplies “including water, food, health and shelter to people across Gaza and the long-awaited release of hostages.”
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