Frail Gaza Truce Begins

After a delay, the four-day truce started on Friday morning to allow the release of hostages as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is set to release at least 50 of the hostages captured during the 7 October attack, while Israel will in turn release 150 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides agreed to release women and children first. The truce will also allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, where the situation remains dire.

For the first time this will include fuel as well as food and medicines. Fuel is vital to keep electric generators going. The lack of fuel caused many hospitals to stop functioning and caused the death of patients in need of intensive care. Since the start of the attack, an estimated14,000 people have been killed in Gaza, many of whom children.

Achieving this frail truce took the coordinated efforts of officials from Qatar, the United States, and the Egyptian government. As Qatar officials put pressure on the Hamas leaders living in the country to work for a truce, the United States did the same with Israel, and Egypt kept an open line of communication with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.

Hostages will be released each day of the truce, which may be extended if further hostages are released after the initial 50. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that they had received a full list of the hostages set for release.

Imminent Release

“Pursuant to the arrival of a list of the names of the hostages who are due to be released first in the first stage of the outline that has been agreed upon, liaison officers have informed all of those families whose loved ones appear on the list, as well as all of the hostages’ families,” he said in a statement.

The list of names will not be made public until their return to Israel. A spokesperson of the IDF said, “In the past day, the IDF completed its preparation for the reception of the hostages who will return to Israel from the Gaza Strip. The IDF, in cooperation with the government ministries and security organizations, formulated a procedure for the rapid reception of the hostages, while providing the necessary guidance.

“As a part of the preparation, the IDF set up initial reception points, where medical care will be provided if required and an escort. After that, the returnees will continue to the hospitals where they will meet with their families.”

In Gaza, Israeli leaflets are warning Palestinians not to return to the north, where the ground operations are taking place. Hostilities are set to resume quickly at the end of the truce, with hundreds of thousands displaced Palestinians living in precarious conditions in the southern regions of the Gaza Strip.

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