According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the ceasefire between Israel and the extremist organization Hamas began at 11:15 Finnish time.
11:54•Updated 13:10
Israel has received a list of names of the three hostages to be released today. An Israeli official told the news agency Reuters about it. This allowed a ceasefire to begin. The list has been a condition for the implementation of the armistice.
Hamas plans to release three female hostages today. The women’s families have been notified of the exemptions. According to preliminary information, the release should take place today after 16:00 Finnish time.
Editor of Antti Kuronen was at the Erez border crossing during the day on Sunday.
– I got close to the Gaza border for the first time during the entire war. At the border, there are dozens of trucks waiting for relief cargo. There is at least flour and biscuits in the trucks, says Kuronen.
According to news agencies, the 31-year-old animal keeper will be released Doron Steinbrecher28 years old Emily Damari and 24 years old Romi Gonem.
Steinbrecher was abducted from his apartment in the Kfar Aza kibbutz during the attack carried out by Hamas in various parts of Israel in October of the other year. Emily Damar has dual British and Israeli citizenship. He too was kidnapped from Kfar Aza. The hostages released in November said that they had been in contact with Emliy Damari during their own captivity.
24-year-old Romi Gonem was kidnapped while trying to escape from the Supernova music festival, which was the target of one of the attacks.
The next group of hostages is promised to be released within a week
The Prime Minister’s Office says that the next four surviving female hostages will be released in a week.
According to the three-phase agreement agreed by Hamas and Israel, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners in return. According to previous information, Israel releases 50 Palestinians for each female hostage.
– The hostages to be released are women, a few children and men who are over 50 years old. Then, during these six weeks, we are supposed to agree on a continuation, a slightly more permanent truce. How it will turn out is a big question mark, but now at least the truce has started, says Kuronen.
Hamas still holds dozens of Israeli prisoners. Some of them are dead. The dead are to be handed over to Israel in the final phase of the agreement.
Israel continued to attack Gaza until the last moments before the ceasefire came into effect. According to Hamas, twenty people have been killed in the attacks.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, 46,800 Palestinians have died during the 15-month war in Gaza. In October 2023, 1,200 people died in a Hamas attack on the Israeli side. There were originally 251 hostages.
The truce is scheduled to last six weeks. Antti Kuronen says that many locals suspect that the war will continue after the break.
– Others rejoice, others think the war should definitely continue.
Reuters, AFP
The story is completed.