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Ceasefire takes hold in Gaza ahead of hostage release, aid enters enclave

A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza and setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Quick Read

  • A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas commenced on Friday, allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and setting the stage for hostage and prisoner exchanges.
  • The truce brings temporary relief to Gaza’s population, who suffered from Israeli bombardment, and families in Israel concerned about captives from Hamas’ attack on October 7.
  • Despite hopes to reduce conflict, Israel plans to resume its offensive once the cease-fire ends.
  • During the cease-fire, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group and Israel agreed to release hostages and prisoners, with women and children prioritized for release.
  • Qatar, the U.S., and Egypt mediated the truce, aiming to create momentum for peace and end the violence.
  • The Israeli Defense Minister and Prime Minister have indicated a continuation of the war to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities.
  • The conflict began with Hamas militants attacking southern Israel, resulting in significant civilian casualties and hostage-taking.
  • The Israeli offensive has led to over 13,300 Palestinian deaths, with many reported missing under rubble, and a significant number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel on security charges.

The Associated Press has the story:

Ceasefire takes hold in Gaza ahead of hostage release, aid enters enclave

Newslooks- DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)

A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza and setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

There were no reports of fighting in the hours after the truce began. The deal offered some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and dwindling supplies of basic necessities, as well as for families in Israel worried about loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.

A woman cycles next to a billboard calling for the return of about 240 hostages who were abducted during the Oct. 7, Hamas attack on Israel. in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Friday marks the start of a four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, during which the Gaza militants pledged to release 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The truce raised hopes of eventually winding down the conflict, which has flattened vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel, however, has said it is determined to resume its massive offensive once the cease-fire ends.

On Friday, it brought quiet after weeks in which Gaza saw heavy bombardment and artillery fire daily as well as street fighting as ground troops advanced through neighborhoods in the north. The last report of air raid sirens in Israeli towns near the territory came shortly after the truce took effect.

Israeli soldiers work on a tank in a staging area in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza Strip, on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. the first day of what is meant to be a four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Not long after, four tankers with fuel and four with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israel said.

Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day during the truce — still only a small portion of Gaza’s estimated daily needs of more than 1 million liters.

For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred the entry of fuel to Gaza, claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes — though it has occasionally allowed small amounts in.

Israeli soldiers stand on Salah al-Din road in central Gaza Strip on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as the temporary ceasefire went into effect. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

U.N. aid agencies pushed back against the claim, saying fuel deliveries were closely supervised and urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe since fuel is required to run generators that power water treatment facilities, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.

The Israeli military dropped leaflets over southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge there not to return to their homes in the territory’s north, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.

Palestinians try to cross back into northern Gaza at the Salah al-Din road in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as the temporary ceasefire went into effect. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Even though Israel warned that it would block such attempts, hundreds of Palestinians could be seen walking north Friday.

Two were shot and killed by Israeli troops and another 11 were wounded. An Associated Press journalist saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital.

Sofian Abu Amer, who had fled Gaza City, said he decided to risk heading north to check on his home.

Palestinians walk by a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment overnight in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

“We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” he said. ”The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die.”

During the cease-fire, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners.

A woman looks at Palestinian performers attempting to entertain displaced children sheltering at a UN school in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

Both sides agreed to release women and children first, starting Friday afternoon. Israel said the deal calls for the truce to be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

Early in the day, ambulances were seen arriving at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, preparing for the release. Those freed will then be taken to hospitals for assessment and treatment, Israeli officials said.

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed building of Muharib family killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The first hostages freed will be Israeli citizens, including some who have a second nationality, according to a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details with the media.

The official would not comment on media reports that Hamas had also agreed to release non-Israelis, including 23 Thai nationals. Thailand’s foreign minister told reporters in Bangkok he had not been able to confirm the reports.

Mourners gather in grief during the funeral of Shani Gabay in the northern Israeli town of Yokneam, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. Gabay, 25, was killed with at least 360 Israelis by Hamas militants at the outdoor music festival, among the total 1,200 people killed during Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 cross-border assault. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. Three Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released for every hostage freed.

The hope is that “momentum” from the deal will lead to an “end to this violence,” said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which served as a mediator along with the United States and Egypt.

Palestinian gets out of a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment overnight in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

But hours before it came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted telling troops that their respite would be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also vowed to continue the war to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the hostages.

Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began Oct. 8.

UPDATES INSTRUCTIONS – Israeli soldiers are seen during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Hezbollah is not a party to the cease-fire agreement, but was widely expected to halt its attacks.

The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers.

Displaced Palestinian children sheltering at a UN school, attend an entertainment performance in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

The soldiers will only be released in exchange for all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, according to the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is reportedly holding about 40 hostages.

It is not clear how many of the hostages are currently serving in the military or whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be “military hostages.”

Close to 7,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel on security charges.

Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Gaza City, during the ongoing Israeli bombardment on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza after stopping for weeks because of the health system’s collapse in the north.

The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble.

Ambulances are seen on a road near an Israeli forces tank during an Israeli army ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the new number was not broken down. The figure does not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north.

People walk past graffiti calling for the return of the hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border attack in Israel, in Kfar Saba, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count.

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