Families of hostages, and Palestinians trapped in besieged Gaza wait anxiously for the start of a long-awaited truce and exchange of captives, in the first breakthrough in a bloody seven-week war.
At least 50 women and children captured by militants are expected to be gradually released over a four day period in exchange for a halt in fighting and the release of 150 Palestinian women and children jailed in Israel.
Hamas said hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid – including fuel – would be allowed to enter Gaza. Israeli diplomatic sources told The Independent the ceasefire could be extended by a day for every additional 10 or so additional hostages released. In exchange there will also be more Palestinians released.
It was expected that hostages would start to be released on Thursday, but Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said captives would not be let free before Friday.
“Negotiations for the release of our captives are progressing and continue all the time,” Mr Hanegbi said in a statement released by the prime minister’s office.
“The start of the release will proceed according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” Mr Hanegbi added.
Relatives and friends of Ditza Heiman in Tel Aviv call for her release— (AFP via Getty Images)
The Israel Justice Ministry published a list of a total of 300 Palestinians eligible to be released, mainly teenage boys detained over the past year for throwing stones and other minor offences.
The deal – which came after weeks of fraught discussions – is the most significant breakthrough for desperate families who have been lobbying for the release of an estimated 240 hostages held captive by militants.
Many fear – because tensions and distrust are so high – it could crumble. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the “right choice” but the truce was only temporary.
“I want to be clear. The war is continuing. The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,” he said.
He said Israel would resume the war after the truce and keep fighting “until we achieve all our goals”, including the destruction of Hamas’ fighting and governing abilities and the return of all hostages.
The Israeli military has signalled after the truce it will push their offensive south – which rights groups have said would be devastating for families sheltering there.
On 7 October Hamas militants seized hundreds of civilians, including foreign nationals, babies as young as 10 months old and the elderly, during a bloody rampage through southern Israeli towns, where they killed at least 1200 people.
In retaliation Israel unleashed a crippling siege, its heaviest ever bombardment of Gaza and launched a ground offensive deep inside the blockaded strip. So far only four female hostages have been released in deals brokered between Egypt, the US and Israel: the bodies of two other Israeli women have been found in Gaza City.
In besieged Gaza, a fragile four-day halt in hostilities – and an accompanying increase in delivery of badly needed aid – would be the first respite for civilians living under ferocious bombardment launched by Israel in the aftermath of 7 October.
Men look over the site of a deadly explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City— (AP)
The Palestinian health ministry has said it has stopped officially counting the death toll from Israel’s strikes because the bombing was so heavy it was impossible to properly count the dead. As many as 14,000 are believed to have been killed.
And so there has been tense expectation riding on the truce deal, with negotiations continuing until the eleventh hour.
The families of hostages – who had forged a central gathering point in a square in Tel Aviv – told The Independent people were “nervous but optimistic” about the deal and just hoped the truce would hold for the full four day period.
“It feels as if this deal opens the door to the next deal,” and so the release of even more hostages, said Gil Dickmann, whose 39-year-old cousin Carmel was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Beeri.
“The problem is whether it’s going to fall apart in between the days. What could go wrong is that the deal will collapse midway.”
This was a concern shared by civilians in Gaza for different reasons, who told The Independent they were on the brink of running out of basic supplies, struggling to find clean water, and frightened about the prospects of Israel’s ground incursion pushing deep into the south where most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is crammed into after answering Israel’s orders to evacuate south.
David and Varda Goldstein pose for a picture whilst holding-up photos of their 3 grandchildren, Gal, Tal and Agam, and their mother, Chen, who were kidnapped by Hamas— (Getty)
Ahmed, who asked for his full name and identity to be withheld for his security, said he and his family were bracing themselves for a difficult night in the southern city of Rafah.
“The hours before a pause or truce are usually the deadliest. I expect a horrible night,” Ahmed said.
“Four days would never be enough to provide enough humanitarian aid for such a huge and dense population as we have here in the south,” he said, adding that he and his wife are fast running out of basic supplies.
“It is only a pause. People can’t go home to pick up their remaining stuff or even claim the bodies of those buried under the rubble.”
The details were still being hammered out in the eleventh hour. Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly flew to Doha on Wednesday afternoon to tie up the final print of the deal with Qataris. Late on Wednesday one diplomatic source told The Independent: “The details are being finalised, it is extremely sensitive.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which will manage the transport of hostages, said on Wednesday evening they had still not been given details of the logistics of the deal.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip— (AP)
Diplomatic sources told The Independent the truce will begin at 10am local time – a time Hamas has also confirmed publicly.
The Independent understands at that point they will start to gather and transport the hostages to the south of Gaza – a treacherous journey in the war-blasted territory that for previous hostage releases had taken as long as 13 hours.
When they have left Gaza they will be met by psychologists and doctors before being taken to hospitals in Israel for treatment if needed. Later in the day Palestinians in Israeli prisons who were listed in the deal will be released and returned home.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying Mr Netanyahu committed to supporting an “extended pause.” Several nations, including Britain, France, China and Russia, also welcomed the agreement.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said he hoped the deal would eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire and “serious talks” on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Arab foreign ministers also applauded the deal but said aid to Gaza needed to be significantly increased, the truce must be extended and it should be the first step toward full cessation of hostilities.
There were also tense exceptions about the release of Palestinian women and children in Israel’s jails as part of the truce.
A Palestinian boy on a bicycle looks at rubble of a building following Israeli strikes in Rafah on Wednesday— (AFP)
The Israeli military says it has detained more than 1,850 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began, mostly suspected Hamas members. Palestinian rights groups say that number is closer to 3000 including 200 children.
The United Nations said it has been the deadliest year in the West Bank in decades – 200 Palestinians have been killed there, mainly during battles triggered by army raids. Attacks by Jewish settlers have surged, deepening Palestinian despair.
In Gaza on Wednesday the ferocious fighting continued. Outside Khan Younis, workers dug a mass grave for 111 bodies that Israeli authorities handed over after troops took them from Shifa Hospital and other parts of northern Gaza. Israeli troops took the bodies apparently for DNA analysis amid the search for hostages in the north.
Strikes also levelled buildings in the Nusseirat refugee camp and the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, which have been heavily bombarded in recent days.
The city’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said 128 bodies were brought in overnight after strikes. “There’s no safe place,” said Umm Rami al-Jabali, who survived a strike in Deir al-Balah. “Inside isn’t safe, outside isn’t safe.”
