Israel-Palestine War: No Hostage Release Before Friday, Ceasefire Delayed

Wednesday gave a hope to the escalating torments of Palestinian civilians, as Israel approved a four-day ceasefire agreement with the Hamas militant group in exchange of at least fifty hostages from Gaza. But as per the upcoming reports the truce got delayed and no hostages will be released before Friday. The initial agreement was resulted from the Qatar brokered talks with Israel and was expected to release at least 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails also.

The update was disclosed in a statement by Tzachi Hanegbi, the national security adviser of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the Guardian quoted Tzachi Hanegbi, “the release will begin according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday”. The ceasefire agreement was approved by the Israeli cabinet with Hamas on Wednesday and the two decided to release fifty hostages, 150 Palestinian prisoners, and an additional humanitarian aid to the Strip.

Meanwhile the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war would resume after the truce. He reiterated that the regime will continue the war until all the hostages “come home” and called to destroy Hamas completely to ensure that there would remain no element in Gaza to threaten Israel anymore. The Prime Minister was addressing a televised news conference.

What is the four-day humanitarian truce?

• The truce is for four-days.
• Fifty Israeli women and children under the age of 19 will be released from Gaza, who were kidnapped by the Palestinian outfit Hamas in the October 7 attack.
• Israel will exchange 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons.
• The hostages will be released in batches, probably about a dozen a day.
• Israel will extend the truce by a day for each additional batch of 10 hostages released by Hamas.
• As said by Hamas, Israel agreed to dismiss the air operations over the north Gaza from 10:00 am to 04:00 pm each day of the ceasefire and will dismiss all air traffic over the south for the entire truce period.
• Hamas said, Israel will not attack or arrest anyone in Gaza during the period. People can move freely along Salah al-Din Street.
• “No attack, no military movements, no expansion, nothing”, said Qatar.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross will work in Gaza to facilitate the release of the hostages, Qatar said.
• The hostages are expected to be transported through Egypt.
• Trucks with aid and fuel will enter the besieged Gaza Strip.
• The hostages” families or others have 24 hours to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to object to the deal, said NBC News.
• Israel will continue attacking Gaza after the four-day period, said Tel Aviv.

The Gaza Strip is currently facing severe humanitarian crisis as the Israeli Defence Force continues bombarding the region irrespective of schools, refugee camps, and medical facilities. So far above 11,000 people were killed in the Strip and the United Nations confirmed above 5,000 in the count were children. Gaza’s major hospitals were also going out-of-service and thousands of people were facing drastic blockade of clean water, food, medicines, fuel, and communication possibilities.