Israel – Hamas war: the truce has officially started in Gaza – L’Express

⇒ The truce started at 6 a.m. (French time)

⇒ 13 hostages are expected at the Rafah border post

⇒ At least 85 Jewish graves have been desecrated in Belgium

A race against time began this Friday at 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. French time). The parties to the conflict now have 4 days to properly carry out the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners, negotiated by the Qatari mediator with Egypt and the United States and humanitarian associations to provide maximum aid. to the Gaza Strip, in a catastrophic situation. The entry into force of this “humanitarian pause”, initially scheduled for Thursday, was postponed until Friday on the 49th day of the war between Hamas and Israel.

The first releases of hostages (13 women and children) are expected around 4 p.m. local time (3 p.m. French time). According to an Egyptian security source, an Egyptian security delegation will be present in Jerusalem and Ramallah to ensure “compliance with the list” of released Palestinian prisoners. Israeli security officials, accompanied by Red Cross personnel and Egyptian agents, will be deployed to the “Egyptian hall” of the Rafah border crossing to receive the hostages released from Gaza who will then fly from there. al-Arish airport to Israel, according to this source.

The situation is nevertheless very fragile. Two hours before the truce came into force, the Health Ministry of the administration of the Hamas terrorist organization told AFP that Israeli soldiers were “conducting a raid on the Indonesian hospital” where 200 patients are still being treated. No comment from the Israeli army, which nevertheless indicated that anti-rocket alarm sirens had sounded in a kibbutz on the edge of the Gaza Strip. Hamas confirmed “a complete cessation of military activities” for four days.

The director of the al-Chifa hospital in Gaza was arrested by Israel, the army announced Thursday as well as a department head of the establishment, under the control of the army which says it is looking for Hamas installations there. . The doctor was “transferred for questioning” by the intelligence services, the Israeli army said. “Under his leadership, the hospital was the scene of numerous Hamas terrorist activities,” the statement added. The investigation will determine “whether he will be subjected to further interrogations”.

Al-Chifa was, until very recently, presented by Israel as the main command center for Hamas operations in the Gaza Strip. For days, its soldiers have been searching the establishment, the largest in Palestinian territory, room by room. According to Israel, Hamas has stored numerous weapons inside the hospital, and exploits its electricity resources through an underground system. There are currently 180 patients and caregivers remaining in the hospital, without electricity or food, whose doctors are requesting urgent evacuation.

At least 27 people were killed and 93 others injured in a strike on a UN school in northern Gaza City, a doctor at al-Awda hospital in Jabaliya said on condition of anonymity, attributing the strikes Israel. Jabaliya is the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) claims to shelter, in 156 schools and infrastructures, nearly a million displaced people fleeing incessant Israeli bombings since the deadly Hamas attack in Israel on October 7.

According to a latest report from the Hamas government published Thursday, November 23, 14,854 people have been killed in Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip since October 7, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women. An assessment that no independent source is able to verify. On the Israeli side, the Hamas attack left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians killed on October 7, and 68 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.

At least 85 graves in the Jewish square of one of the cemeteries of Charleroi, in the south of Belgium, were defaced and objects and bronze stars of David stolen, “an act of an anti-Semitic nature” condemned Thursday by the authorities of this large Walloon city. “The chosen location and the theft of numerous Stars of David leave little doubt about the anti-Semitic nature of the intentions,” declared the mayor of Charleroi Paul Magnette. “On behalf of the city, I strongly condemn these despicable actions,” he added in a press release, specifying that he had asked his administration to notify each family. The city filed a complaint and an investigation was opened.