Jerusalem: A four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war began Friday morning in Gaza as part of an agreement that Qatar helped broker. The deal also includes the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, which was to begin later Friday.
With the deal comes increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — though still only enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, according to aid groups. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 litres of fuel a day into besieged Gaza for humanitarian needs for the duration of the truce.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza after a dayslong pause in its casualty report, which it attributed to the health system’s collapse in northern Gaza making it impossible to provide a detailed count.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will press ahead with the war after the cease-fire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
Here’s what’s happening:
France calls for release of all hostages, including 8 French citizens, and a lasting truce
Beijing — French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called Friday for the release of all hostages held in Gaza, including eight French citizens, and a lasting truce between Israel and Hamas.
‘It is essential that international law is applied there (in Gaza) as elsewhere,’ Colonna said during a trip to Beijing. ‘All states have the right to defend themselves, but we must cooperate so that terrorism is contained.’
She called for a durable truce so that ‘the wounded can be treated, and humanitarian aid can arrive and ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.’
The eight French hostages in Gaza include three children. The French president, foreign minister, and defense minister have traveled to the region in recent weeks to push for their release and a long-term peace.
Forty French citizens were killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel October 7, and two French citizens have been killed in attacks on Gaza, according to the Foreign Ministry. France has sent flights and warships to bring humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Ambulances arrive at Israeli Military Base ahead of hostage release
Hatzerim Military Base, Israel — Ambulances arrived at Hatzerim military air base in southern Israel Friday, hours before hostages were expected to arrive after being released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials said that after arriving at the air base escorted by Israeli soldiers, the released hostages will be flown or driven to five different hospitals across the country for medical treatment, as needed.
Gaza’s ruling Hamas group has pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took in their deadly October 7 attack on Israel. In turn, Israel is to free three Palestinian prisoners for each released hostage. The releases are to take place in stages over the next four days.
Israeli Forces kill a 12-year-old boy in West Bank
Jerusalem — Israeli forces shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Friday, as violence surges in the territory under the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The boy was killed Thursday in the village of Beita near the flashpoint city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the officials said.
The Israeli military said Palestinians threw stones when soldiers entered the village and that troops responded with live fire. The military said it was looking into the circumstances of the boy’s death.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began seven weeks ago, the West Bank has seen one of the deadliest periods in at least two decades. Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 229 Palestinians, including 52 children and minors under the age of 18, in arrest raids and violent confrontations, according to UN figures.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed.
Israeli troops fire at Palestinians attempting to return to Northern Gaza, killing two
Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops fatally shot two Palestinians and wounded 11 others as they headed toward the main combat zone in northern Gaza despite warnings by the Israeli army to stay put.
An Associated Press journalist saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah in the southern half of Gaza. The injured had been shot in the legs.
Friday’s shooting came hours after the Israeli military warned hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge in southern Gaza not to attempt to return to their homes in the northern half of the territory, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.
The military had dropped leaflets on southern Gaza saying that returning to northern Gaza is prohibited and dangerous.
Since a four-day truce went into effect Friday morning, hundreds of Palestinians were seen trying to head to northern Gaza.
Witnesses said Israeli troops are opening fire on people trying to head north.
Since the early days of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel seven weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in the north at the orders of the Israeli army.
‘Everyone in return for everyone,’ Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader says
Beirut — The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said Friday that Israeli soldiers among the 240 hostages held by militant groups in Gaza will only be released in exchange for all the Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Islamic Jihad is reportedly holding about 40 of the hostages who were captured by Hamas and other militant groups during their October 7 attack on southern Israel. Over the next four days, 50 hostages are to be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, with both sides releasing women and children first.
In a televised speech on the first day of what is meant to be a four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war, Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh said that “the enemy’s military prisoners will not be released without the freedom of our prisoners and this is linked to the end of the aggression.” He said that Israel would be forced to “eventually reach a deal of everyone in return for everyone.”
It was not immediately clear how many of the hostages held in Gaza are currently serving in the military and whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be military hostages.
Close to 7,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel on security charges, including about 1,800 arrested since the start of the war.
AP
