By Ronny Reyes | New York Post
A four-day cease-fire went into effect in Gaza after weeks of war as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas to free dozens of hostages taken during the Oct 7 terrorist attack.
Following hours of deliberation, Israeli leaders agreed to enact a ceasefire at 7 a.m. local time Friday — 12 a.m. EST, the first major pause in the war.
In the first couple hours of the pause, there were no major reports of bombings, artillery strikes or rocket launches, according to Reuters.
Sirens sounded in two Israeli villages outside of southern Gaza, warning of possible incoming Palestinian rockets. An Israeli government spokesman said Hamas had carried out a rocket launch that violated the truce, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
As per the agreement, brokered by Qatar, Hamas will be releasing 50 women and children throughout the cease-fire, with Israel agreeing to extend the “humanitarian pause” for one more day for every 10 additional hostages released.
The first group of 13 Israeli women and child hostages are expected to be released later on Friday.
Hamas is holding nearly 240 hostages in Gaza, according to Israel.
The figures include an estimated 10 Americans, US officials said.
Along with the cease-fire, the Jewish nation will be releasing 150 Palestinian women and minors currently in custody in Israel.
As the exchange occurs, Gaza is also expected to see an influx in humanitarian aid arrive, including medical supplies and fuel after weeks of hospitals seeing their resources dwindle.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the release of the hostages will occur in five phases, the first of which will see the women and children handed off to the Red Cross and then taken into custody by the IDF.
The hostages will proceed to undergo medical checks before being sent to Israeli hospitals to meet with their families.
The fourth stage will then see the hostages interviewed by medical and military staff to determine if they’re well enough to brief officials on everything that’s occurred to them since being kidnapped on Oct. 7.
The final stage will see the former hostages formally speak with Israeli security officials.
Israel’s military said on social media early Friday it has completed operational preparations according to the defensive positions of the pause.
“Earlier this morning, our troops destroyed a route of underground terrorist tunnels and tunnel shafts in the area of the Shifa Hospital,” the Israel Defense Forces tweeted. “In addition, over the last day, our troops struck various terrorist targets from the land, air and sea.”
Israel has made clear the cease-fire is only a temporary stop in the fighting.
The IDF warned hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza to remain there and not try to go back to their homes in the northern part of the war-torn strip.
Arabic-language leaflets were dropped Friday over southern Gaza that said the war is not over yet.
“Returning to the north is prohibited and very dangerous,” the leaflets said. “Your fate and the fate of your families is in your hands. We have warned you.”
President Biden said he welcomes the “deal to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist group Hamas.”
“Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released,” Biden said after the deal was announced Tuesday night.
Despite negotiators’ hopes that the deal will spur further ceasefires in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis and more than 12,000 Palestinians, Netanyahu has said that peace will not be an option until Hamas is eradicated.
“I would like to make it clear here again: The war continues, the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals: to eliminate Hamas, Netanyahu said in a statement preceding the hostage deal agreement.
“To return all our hostages, to ensure that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel, there will be no element in it that supports terrorism, that educates its children to terror, and who threaten the State of Israel.”
With Post wires
