Beginning on Friday morning at 7 a.m. local time, Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists have agreed to temporarily stop hostilities in Gaza. While Hamas is set to free the first group of detainees later in the day, hundreds of relief trucks are prepared to stream into the Palestinian enclave that has been devastated by conflict.
The IDF and Hamas have not released any formal statements confirming the end of hostilities. But an Al Jazeera correspondent in southern Gaza asserted that the strikes had stopped and the truce has actually begun. “As fighter jets have completely stopped flying over the Gaza Strip, we are witnessing a relative calm that is gradually becoming more and more visible,” he stated.
Reports from the Israeli media state that fifteen minutes after the cease-fire was due to start, rocket alarms went off in the Israeli settlements of Kissufim and Ein Hashlosha, close to the Gaza border.
In the midst of the ceasefire, the Israeli military has dropped flyers alerting Gaza residents not to go back to their homes in the north. In a social media appeal to Palestinians, IDF spokeswoman for Arabic media Avichay Adraee stated that “the war is not over yet,” notwithstanding the ceasefire. This humanitarian stop won’t last forever. Moving northward is prohibited in the Gaza Strip due to its perilous nature as a combat zone.
According to the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which assisted in mediating the agreement, Israel has agreed to stop airstrikes on the southern portion of Gaza and to suspend missions in the northern half of the enclave for six hours each day.
It is anticipated that at approximately 4 p.m. local time, Hamas will free the first batch of 13 Israeli women and children, using the battle lull to find other captives purportedly held by other forces. By the end of the day, Israel also intends to release a number of the Palestinian inmates.
According to Egyptian officials, every day of the ceasefire would see the entry of some 200 trucks carrying food and other essential relief, including restricted supplies of fuel. The “uncoordinated movement of trucks from the south of the Strip to the north will not be permitted,” according to the Israeli military.
In exchange for the truce, the Israeli government promised to “continue the war in order to ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza, complete the elimination of Hamas, and return home all of the hostages.”
The IDF further stated that during the truce, Gazans will be free to “safely” evacuate south but will not be permitted to return to their houses in the north. According to Israeli army spokeswoman Avichay Adraee, Israeli forces will continue to be stationed in “sparsely populated areas” in Gaza.
Hamas declared it was prepared to continue the fight as well. The group released a statement on Thursday night saying, “While we announce the arrival of a pause of fighting agreement, we affirm that our hands will remain on the trigger and our victorious brigades will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defeat the occupation and its aggression.”
Israel and Hamas want to swap 150 Palestinian civilians detained in Israeli jails for 50 Israeli women and children during the four-day cease-fire. Authorities hoped that for every 10 more prisoners released, the ceasefire would be prolonged by one more day.
Over 200 individuals, including foreign nationals, were kidnapped by Hamas during the group’s October 7 raid on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people.
Health officials in the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas claim that Israel has killed about 15,000 Palestinians, including over 6,000 children, during weeks of bombardment and a ground invasion into Gaza.
