DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early Friday, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The halt in fighting promised some relief for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
The cease-fire kicked off at 7 a.m. local time and is to last at least four days. During this period, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners.
Both sides will release women and children first. Israel said the truce would be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.
The truce-for-hostages deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators. If it holds, it would mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago.
The agreement raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has leveled vast swaths of the Gaza Strip, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.
Israel has sought to dispel speculation about ending the war anytime soon, saying it was determined to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted as telling troops Thursday that their respite will be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months.
A first group of 13 women and children held by Hamas will be freed Friday afternoon, according to Majed Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry. Three Palestinian prisoners, also women and minors, are to be released for every freed hostage.
Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the last year for rock-throwing or other minor offenses.
A forensic investigator in Tel Aviv works to reassemble remains of victims of Hamas militants, trying to understand the causes of death and the underlying cruelty.
The return of hostages could lift spirits in Israel, where their plight has gripped the country. Families of the hostages have staged mass demonstrations to pressure the government to bring them home. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it notified the families of hostages listed for release Friday.
Increased aid for Palestinians will start to enter Gaza “as soon as possible,†Ansari said Thursday. The hope is that the “momentum†from this deal will lead to an “end to this violence,†he told reporters.
Hamas said 200 trucks a day will enter Gaza carrying aid. Qatar said the aid will include fuel, but has given no details on quantities.
Israel cut off all imports at the start of the war, except for a trickle of food, water and medical supplies allowed in from Egypt. The lack of fuel has caused a territory-wide blackout, leaving homes and hospitals reliant on faltering generators.
Israeli airstrikes continued Thursday. In the afternoon, a strike leveled a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. At least 12 people were killed, according to officials at nearby Al Aqsa Hospital.
One resident, Hosni Moharib, said his wife and several children were killed and other relatives remained buried under the rubble.
“It exploded on the house, striking the babies and young children. Everyone in the house, they are all dead,†he said, bursting into tears.
The Israeli bombardment, now in its seventh week, has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza from the war. The ministry had stopped publishing casualty counts since Nov. 11, saying it had lost the ability to do so because of the health system’s collapse in the north.
The new numbers were not fully broken down, but women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north. The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count.
At least 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel says.
Abdullah Alathamna’s family suffered when Israel shelled his family’s Gaza home in 2006. Now a father, he fears for his daughters. ‘I want to protect them,’ he says. ‘But I cannot.’
Air-raid sirens sounded across northern Israel on Thursday as Hezbollah said it fired 48 Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon. The barrage came after an Israeli strike killed five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc.
The Israeli military said it was striking the sources of the launches. Israel and Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war in 2006, have repeatedly traded fire across the border since the war in Gaza broke out.
Netanyahu vowed to continue the war after the truce expires to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the estimated 240 captives held in Gaza by Hamas and other groups.
“We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,†Netanyahu said, adding that he had delivered the same message in a phone call to President Biden. Washington has provided extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel since the start of the war.
In southern Gaza’s city of Khan Yunis, Palestinians welcomed the respite of the upcoming cease-fire but said four days would do little to relieve the humanitarian disaster.
“God willing, it becomes a total cease-fire,†said Jihan Qanan. “People have had houses brought down on their heads, they’ve been expelled. ... There’s no homes, no money, no possessions. The whole world is wrecked.â€
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Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Jobain from Khan Yunis and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press reporters Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.
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