A cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas will begin

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A conflict between Israel and Hamas was supposed to start on Sunday morning, ending 15 months of brutal war in Gaza and paving the way for the liberation of the army. prisoners it is still being held by a group of Palestinian fighters in the destroyed area.

The six-week deal – the first phase of a multi-stage deal that has been cancelled Mediators led by the US last week after months of failed efforts to reach an agreement – it was supposed to start working at 08.30 local time (06.30 GMT).

If the peace process continues, Hamas will later on Sunday release three of the 98 hostages it is holding in Gaza. In exchange, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners.

But in a sign of the weakness of the arrangements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said about an hour before the deal went into effect that it would not begin unless Hamas gave Israel the names of the hostages to be released on Sunday. .

Hamas said in a statement moments later that it was committed to a ceasefire, and that the delay in naming was due to “technical reasons in the field”.

The multi-stage deal offers hope for a halt – and an end – to the bloodiest conflict in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has left Gaza in ruins, devastated the Israeli nation, and brought Middle East on the edge of the country. full battle.

The war was sparked by a terror attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israel, in which the militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and captured another 250 in the deadliest day in history. Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel responded with a brutal attack on Gaza, which killed more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, as well as displacing as many as 2.3mn people to the coast and causing a humanitarian crisis.

After more than half a year of failed efforts to end the conflict, mediators announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a three-phase deal, which was initiated by US President Joe Biden. in May last year.

The first phase involves a six-week deal, in which Hamas will release 33 hostages – including children, women, the sick and the elderly – in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

During the first phase of the agreement, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, including northern Gaza. There will also be a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a large influx of humanitarian aid into the region.

If the agreement is implemented as planned, on the 16th day of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin to discuss the details of the second part of the agreement, in which the living prisoners will be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, complete. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and an end to the war forever.

The final phase will include the return of the remaining bodies of the dead hostages, as well as the start of the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.

However, questions remain over whether the deal will be fully implemented, with Netanyahu under intense pressure from far-right members of his coalition to resume war at the end of the first phase of the agreement.

Late Saturday, right-wing defense minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his Jewish Power party would leave the government in protest against the deal, reducing Netanyahu’s majority in the 120-seat parliament to two seats. only.

Ben-Gvir’s ultranationalist ally, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, has also threatened to pull his Religious Zionist party out of government if fighting does not resume after the first phase of the deal. If he does, it will strip Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority.