Hugs, songs and tears of joy… The first 90 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel, on the night of Sunday January 19 to Monday January 20, after the truce with Hamas came into force. They were greeted by a cheering crowd in Beitunia, in the occupied West Bank. The first phase of the agreement provides for the release of some 1,900 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza. It should allow an influx of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and lay the foundations for a permanent ceasefire.
Information to remember
⇒ Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners
⇒ Three Israeli hostages were released on Sunday
⇒ Restoring the health system in Gaza “will be a complex and difficult task”, warns WHO
Truce in Gaza: Israel releases 90 Palestinians after Hamas frees three hostages
Israel released 90 Palestinian detainees overnight, a few hours after three Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas, as part of the ceasefire between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip devastated by more than 15 months of war.
The movement reported “complications on the ground” and “continued bombings”. Late in the afternoon, a Hamas leader told AFP that “the three hostages” had been “handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross” in Gaza City (north), then the Israeli army confirmed their arrival in Israel.
They are British-Israeli Emily Damari (28) and Romanian-Israeli Doron Steinbrecher (31), captured at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as Romi Gonen (24), kidnapped at the Nova music festival , during the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.
Truce agreement provides for exile for 230 Palestinians condemned by Israel
Israel has published a list including the names of 734 detainees (out of an announced total of 737) available for release during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement negotiated thanks to the mediation of Qatar, with the help of the United States and Egypt.
According to the details of the list, more than 230 of them, all sentenced to life imprisonment for having committed or participated in attacks or attacks that killed Israelis, must be permanently banned. According to two Hamas sources who participated in the negotiations, the parties agreed to the release of 296 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life in the first phase of the agreement, of which 236 are to be deported, mainly to Qatar or Turkey. , as soon as they were released from prison.
Restoring Gaza’s health system ‘will be a complex and difficult task,’ warns WHO
Restoring the health system in the Gaza Strip will be “a complex and difficult task”, warned the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Sunday “the parties to respect their commitment to fully implement the ceasefire agreement and to continue working towards lasting peace,” he added.
The WHO recently estimated the amount needed to get the health system back on its feet in the Palestinian territory at more than $10 billion. The World Health Organization is ready to immediately increase aid to Gaza on condition that it is guaranteed access to the entire Palestinian population throughout the territory whose health infrastructure is largely destroyed or damaged.
Houthis warn against attacks in Yemen during Gaza truce
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday warned “enemy forces” present in the Red Sea, including the United States, against the “consequences” that any attack on their country would have during the truce in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. These Iranian-backed rebels, who control large parts of Yemen and the capital Sanaa, also claimed responsibility for an attack on several warships including the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
The Houthis “warn enemy forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against our country during the ceasefire period in Gaza,” the rebels said in a statement and a video on X. The Houthis “will face any aggression through precise military operations” without any “red line”, they added.
Gaza: WFP hopes to quickly feed a million people
The UN World Food Program (WFP) said on Sunday it was working to provide food to as many Gaza residents as possible after crossings reopened under the truce. “We are trying to reach a million people as quickly as possible,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the WFP, assured AFP as trucks from the UN agency based in Rome began to enter the strip. from Gaza.
“We provide flour, ready-made meals and we will work on all fronts to restock the bakeries”, as well as to provide the most malnourished children with nutritional supplements. The initial 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas is supposed to allow an influx of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.