The sides have agreed to a prisoner exchange amid a humanitarian truce in the deadly 15-month conflict
The long-awaited Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into force at 09:15 GMT on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has announced on X. The truce, which was initially set to start three hours earlier, had been delayed due to Hamas’ failure to provide West Jerusalem with a list of hostages to be released later the same day as part of the first round of prisoner swaps.
Hamas attributed the delay in providing the list of names to “technical and field reasons.” Netanyahu’s office has confirmed it had received the list minutes before announcing the ceasefire.
The Israeli military continued operations in Gaza while awaiting the list. Gaza’s civil defense agency earlier reported that Israeli strikes killed at least nineteen people and injured more than 25 on Sunday morning.
Despite the delay in the ceasefire, thousands of Gazans took to the streets to celebrate and began returning to their homes.
Israel and Hamas reached a deal earlier this week to halt the 15-month conflict, which has resulted in numerous casualties and extensive destruction in Gaza. The agreement, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, will be implemented in three phases, with the initial stage lasting six weeks.
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