Tag : Rafah

Gaza: A four-day humanitarian pause deal agreed by Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza on Friday, which allow the release of at least 50 hostages in the duration of the temporary ceasefire. The pause in hostilities, which began at 7 a.m. (local time), came on the 49th day of the Israel-Hamas war which erupted on October 7 after the militant group launched its unprecedented attack on the Jewish nation. Under the deal reached on Wednesday under the mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US, the Hamas said that it will release about 13 hostages at 4 p.m. on Friday as the first stage of the agreement,reports Xinhua news agency. Hamas, which has been ruling Gaza since 2007, will hand over the hostages to Egypt. In turn, Israel will release 150 Palestinians, including women and children, from the Israeli jails. Israel is expected to stop all its military operations in the Gaza Strip as part of the four-day pause. Meanwhile, at least 200 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, including four fuel trucks, will be allowed into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire will also facilitate the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt to allow the return of stranded Palestinians waiting in the Arish area, according to the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo. Meanwhile, Israel has notified the families of the hostages set to be released on Friday, the country's coordinator for hostages and missing persons, Gal Hirsch, said in a statement. Hirsch said "liaison officers have informed all of those families whose loved ones appear on the list, as well as all of the hostages' families". Israel has published a list of 300 names of people eligible for release in the exchange. The vast majority are male teenagers aged between 16 t ...