The first truce since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted last month went into effect on Friday morning.
The deal came after weeks of complex and delicate talks brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt. The halt in fighting is intended to last for four days. Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group, is meant to return 50 of the almost 240 hostages it captured from Israel, while the Israelis will release 150 jailed Palestinians and allow more aid into Gaza.
All 200 are expected to be women and people under the age of 19. Qatar has said Hamas will free the first group of hostages around 4 p.m. local time. It’s unclear how many of the 50 will be released at that time.
The start of the cease-fire was delayed by a day as the sides held last-minute negotiations following an initial agreement in the early hours of Wednesday.
The pause marks the first major lull in fighting since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7. That day, Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, attacked southern Israeli communities and army bases from Gaza, killing 1,200 people as well as taking the hostages.
Israel’s responded with a massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip, a densely-packed Mediterranean enclave with around around 2.3 million inhabitants. It also launched a ground offensive on the northern part in late October. Almost 15,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began, according to its Hamas-run health ministry.
The deal’s delay underscored the difficulty of achieving a breakthrough between two warring sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that after the truce ends on Tuesday, Israel will carry on the war until Hamas is destroyed.
“The war is not over yet,” an Israeli military spokesman said on Friday morning. “The humanitarian pause is temporary.”
US President Joe Biden has hailed the deal as a step toward eventually seeing all the hostages freed and getting more food and medicine into Gaza to ease what the United Nations says is a humanitarian disaster.
Three American citizens are thought to be among the 50 hostages being released in the first stage of the deal.
A second stage could see the pause in fighting extended another day for every 10 additional hostages released.
