Israel to Release 1,890 Palestinians in First Phase of Gaza Truce: Egypt

Qatar says the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will take effect at 08:30am (06:30 GMT) on Sunday.

Sat Jan 18 2025
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CAIRO, Egypt: Mediator Egypt announced on Saturday that Israel will release over 1,890 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages as part of the initial phase of a Gaza truce.

The foreign ministry said the prisoners would be freed during the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire which is set to begin at 0630 GMT on Sunday.

Qatar, which mediated the deal along with Egypt and the United States, had announced that 33 hostages would be released by Hamas during the first phase.

Israel’s justice ministry had earlier said 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees would be freed — none before 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Sunday.

Of the 251 people taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Sunday’s ceasefire will be only the second truce in 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip, which has claimed more than 50,000 lives, according to AFP, and devastated the Palestinian territory.

The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts from mediators after months of fruitless negotiations, with Trump’s team taking credit for working with US President Joe Biden’s administration to seal the deal.

“If we weren’t involved… the deal would’ve never happened,” Trump said in an interview Thursday.

The truce is to take effect on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term as US president.

In its statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry thanked fellow mediator Qatar and “appreciated the pivotal role played by the new US administration led by President Trump to end the crisis, as well as President (Joe) Biden.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced in a post on X that the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will take effect at 08:30am (06:30 GMT) on Sunday.

“We advise our brothers to take precautions, exercise the utmost caution, and await instructions from official sources,” spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a tweet on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli government ratified the agreement after meeting for more than six hours, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement.

The deal was approved after more than 460 days of war in which Israeli forces killed more than 46,788 Palestinians and wounded 110,453.

It would see the release of 33 captives held in Gaza over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Israeli intensifies attacks

Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued since the announcement of the ceasefire deal. The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that 23 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours.

ALSO READ: Israeli Strikes Kill 23 in Gaza as Ceasefire Takes Effect Sunday Morning

The ministry said that at least 46,899 people have been killed and 110,725 wounded in more than 15 months of the Israeli bombardment campaign launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.

On Saturday, Gaza’s Civil Defence rescue agency said at least five members of a family died when a strike hit the tent where they were staying in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that a man from the Qudra family was killed along with his wife and their three children in the attack.

An Israeli drone strike also killed three Palestinian civilians in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City late on Friday, according to Wafa.

This brought to at least 119 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombardment since the ceasefire accord was announced on Wednesday.

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