Israel-Hamas War Ceasefire Begins Today; 13 Hostages Set To Be Released
Israeli forces and Palestine’s Hamas militants will begin a four-day ceasefire amid the ongoing war on Friday morning, as 13 Israeli women and children hostages are expected to be released during the day.
Hours before the ceasefire, officials told news agency Reuters that a hospital in Gaza was one of the targets that was bombed. Both sides have agreed to resume the fight after the temporary stop.
“These will be complicated days and nothing is certain… Even during this process, there could be changes. Control over northern Gaza is the first step of a long war, and we are preparing for the next stages,” Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
Here are the top updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
The truce is likely to begin at 7am local time and would involve a comprehensive ceasefire in the north and south Gaza, the Qatar foreign ministry told Reuters.
Aid is likely to flow into Gaza and the first group of hostages would be released by 4pm local time, Qatar ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in Doha. A total of 50 hostages would be released over the next four days. Al-Ansari said that Palestinians would also be released from Israeli jails.
Hamas said 200 trucks a day carrying aid will enter Gaza. News agency AP reported citing Qatar that the aid will be carrying fuel.
Before the ceasefire, the fighting continued at a greater pace than normal as Israeli jets hit over 300 targets and the troops engaged in fighting around the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza.
An Indonesian hospital in Gaza City said it was reeling from continuous bombing. Gaza health officials said the hospital was operating without any light and filled with bedridden people, including children.
Doctors Without Borders said Gaza’s Nasser hospital, which treats burn patients and supports emergency room, was facing an overflow of patients and families that were sheltering in the building.
Israel on Thursday said it detained the chief of Gaza’s biggest hospital Al Shifa, Muhammad Abu Salamiya, for questioning his role in the hospital being used as a Hamas command centre. Hamas condemned the arrest of Salamiya and other doctors stating that Israel was trying to remove the remaining patients at the facility.
Air-raid sirens were sounded across northern Israel on Thursday as Lebanon’s terror group Hezbollah said that it fired 48 Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to continue the war after the truce ends and destroy the military capabilities of Hamas, end its 16-year-long rule in Gaza and free 240 hostages held in Gaza.
Turkey’s health ministry said on Thursday that it was planning to evacuate wounded or sick Gaza children and young people on Friday, Reuters reported.
A total of 14,500 people — 13,300 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis — have lost their lives since Hamas entered Israeli towns on October 7 using motor gliders, boats and trucks starting the ongoing war. In retaliation, Israel launched a devastating invasion of the Gaza Strip along with shutting supply of fuel, electricity and water in the strip.