2023-11-24 11:46:41
The first 13 Israeli hostages of the 240 held by the Palestinian Islamic group, all of them women and children, are expected to be released at 11 am Brasília time, as announced by the government of Qatar, one of the mediators of the truce.
EFE/EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE Israeli soldiers aboard a military vehicle on patrol on a street in Sderot, near the border with the Gaza Strip
The first truce between Israel and the Hamas came into force at 7am (2am Brasília time) this Friday, the 24th, after more than a month and a half of war, as part of an agreement that provides for the release of 50 hostages in exchange for the delivery of 150 Palestinian prisoners . The ceasefire, which will last four days and could be extended to ten if Hamas hands over more kidnapped people, will also serve to allow humanitarian aid to enter the enclave. After a night during which Israel continued its incessant attacks against the Gaza Strip and Hamas launched missiles at two of the evacuated kibbutzim near Gaza, the period in which the parties agreed to temporarily stop hostilities finally came into force. The first 13 Israeli hostages of the 240 held by the Palestinian Islamic group, all of them women and children, are expected to be released at 4pm (11am Brasília time), as announced by the government of Qatar, one of the mediators of the truce.
“The criteria for prioritizing the hostages was purely humanitarian and we focused on getting women and children out of harm’s way as quickly as possible,” highlighted Majed al Ansari, a Qatari spokesman, who said he was confident in compliance with the truce after praising “the positivism and commitment” on both sides. In turn, the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, celebrated this “humanitarian truce” that will allow the “exchange of prisoners”. “For every Zionist prisoner, three Palestinian prisoners will be released, including women and children”, they highlighted.
Hamas also confirmed that the agreement includes the daily entry of 200 trucks with humanitarian aid, food and medicine to be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip, including the north, as well as the daily distribution of four trucks with fuel, vital for supplying electricity to the enclave. The ceasefire represents a breather for the enclave, mired in the worst humanitarian catastrophe in its history, when there are already more than 14,500 dead – more than 70% of them children and women – and more than 6,800 missing under the rubble or among the fallen bodies on the streets and roads, which is why the number of fatalities could be higher, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
*With information from EFE
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