Gaza ceasefire begins after hours of delay, 90 Palestinians freed in first day of swap with Israel - as it happened

Ahram Online , Monday 20 Jan 2025

The anticipated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began at 11:15 local time (09:15 GMT), nearly three hours after initially scheduled. Ahram Online provides live coverage of the events, which could signal the start of the end of 470 days of a genocidal Israeli war that killed and wounded nearly 10 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million population and devastated the strip since 7 October 2023.

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Palestinian men waving Hamas (green) and Hezbollah (yellow) flags sit on top of a Red Cross bus carrying released prisoners from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank are met by a crowd of family members and friends in Beitunia, outside Ramallah, in the early hours of January 20, 2025. Two buses with tinted windows left the Israeli Ofer prison with freed Palestinians under a long-awaited Gaza truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war that has ravaged the Palestinian territory. AFP

 

Monday 20 January

01:18 The first batch of 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the captive-prisoner swap under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas were freed from the Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

Buses left the Israeli military prison over 8 hours after the release of the Israeli captives from Gaza.

One of the detainees, Zeina Barbar, was the first to arrive at her family home in Jerusalem, surrounded by Israeli forces, the Palestinian TV reported.

The Jerusalemite prisoners arrived at their homes accompanied by Israeli police officers and occupation soldiers, who strictly prohibited any public displays of joy and allowed none but immediate family members to visit the freed prisoners.

 


Buses carrying the released Palestinian prisoners arrived in Beitunia in the West Bank amidst celebratory fireworks despite the Israeli restrictions.

Hundreds of people cheered, chanted and honked car horns as buses arrived in the Palestinian town.

A handful of freed female prisoners could be seen smiling and flashing V-signs inside the bus.

 

 



The Red Cross bus carrying released prisoners from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank as they pass through Beitunia


Palestinians waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags sit on top of a Red Cross bus carrying released prisoners from Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank and are met by a crowd of family members and friends in Beitunia. AFP

Journalist Roula Hassanein was also released.

17-year-old Palestinian prisoner Qassem Jaafra (2nd L) poses with friends and family members upon his arrival home in the Silwan neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. AFP

Released prisoner leader Khalida Jarrar looked weak and exhausted as she was greeted by cheering crowds. Memeber of the a leftist faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has spent more than 150 days in solitary confinement.

 

 

01:00 Hamas Prisoners Office announced that buses carrying released prisoners will soon depart from Ofer Military Prison.

00:24 At least seven people were wounded when Israeli security forces attacked Palestinians gathered near Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.

The incident occurred as Palestinians awaited the release of 90 prisoners, a key component of the ceasefire agreement.

Sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowd gathered outside the prison, located near the Palestinian town of Beitunia.

Families have been waiting outside the prison since 03:00 pm (13:00 GMT) but have not received any information regarding their relatives.

00:00 More than 230 Palestinian prisoners, sentenced to life imprisonment by Israel, are to be exiled following their release as part of a prisoner swap agreement, AFP reported.

Israel has published a list of 734 prisoners out of a total of 737 it said would be released during the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which commenced on Sunday.

Two Hamas sources involved in the negotiations stated that Israel agreed to release 296 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment during the first phase of the agreement, 236 of whom are to be permanently exiled after their release, mainly to Qatar or Turkey.

The first phase of the agreement involves the release of a total of about 1,900 Palestinians in exchange for 33 Israelis held in Gaza.

Sunday 19 January

23:43 Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinians who had gathered in front of Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank to welcome prisoners expected to be released as part of a ceasefire deal, Al Jazeera reported.

More than 7 hours have passed since the release of Israeli captives from Gaza, and Palestinians are still waiting for the release of their loved ones from Israeli jail.

 

 

The Red Cross continue their assessments within the prison, sources told the Qatri network.

The mood in the West Bank has been subdued all day as families and friends of the 90 Palestinian women and minors set to be released await news of their release.

Israeli police have conducted raids on the homes of Palestinians to be released, seizing flags and all symbols associated with Palestine.

Authorities also prohibit gatherings or any public displays of joy by their families.

Standing around fires, crowds braved the cold along the route where Palestinian prisoners are to be released.

Hundreds gathered on a hill in the usually quiet suburb of Beitunia, whose location offers a view of Israel's Ofer prison on the other side of the separation wall.

 

Family members and relatives of Palestinian prisoners stand around bonfires while waiting for their release on a hill above the Ofer Prison in the west of Ramallah.

Muhammad, 20, told AFP he had come from Ramallah with his friends. Recently released from Ofer prison, he expressed "great joy" at the thought of reuniting families.

"I know a lot of people in prison, there are innocent people, children, and women," he said.

"All the prisoners being released today feel like family to us. They are part of us, even if they're not blood relatives," said Amanda Abu Sharkh, 23, from the nearby city of Ramallah.

An 18-year-old woman could barely contain her joy while waiting for her mother's release.

"I'll hug her right away—of course, I'll hug her. At first, it'll just be tears of joy. "

"After that, she'll tell us about her time in prison, and we'll tell her about our lives without her. I'm sure there will be a lot of crying," she said as she stood by her brother, sister and aunt.

Her mother, a doctor, had been arrested in January 2024 in the north of the occupied West Bank for social media activity, she said.

22:00 Hamas released the three Israeli captives with gift bags marked Aqsa Flood Deal with the Qassam Brigades logo.

The bags included a certificate of end of captivity, a map of the State of Palestine, and photos of their time in captivity in Gaza.

In tandem, Hamas released a two-minute video depicting the release of the three captives to the IRCC in Saraya Square in Gaza City in the late afternoon hours of Sunday.

 

 

 

21:50 Teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been waiting inside the Israeli jail of Ofer for nearly three hours to receive Palestinian prisoners set to be released as part of the first day of the captive-prisoner swap under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Observers say the Israeli prison authorities are delaying the release of the 90 prisoners to spoil widespread jubilation in the Palestinian community, which is preparing celebrations in various parts of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army raided six homes for families of Jerusalemites set to be released as part of the swap.

Earlier Sunday, Hamas released three Israeli female captives to the ICRC in Gaza City according to schedule.

The Israeli army received the freed women.

21:00 A Palestinian boy was shot and killed on Sunday evening during the Israeli occupation forces' raid on the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that a 15-year-old boy, Ahmed Rashid Hamad, was shot in the chest with live bullets during the raid on the town.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was announced dead of his wounds by the Ministry of Health.

In turn, the mayor of Sebastia, Mohammed Azem, said that the occupation army fired live bullets, sound bombs and toxic teargas towards residents and their homes during the confrontations, causing several suffocation cases among residents.

 

 

20:35 Itamar Ben Gvir, the extremist National Security Minister, announced his resignation from the Israeli cabinet.

The leader of the Jewish Power Party had voted against the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the cabinet meeting on Saturday.


Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) speak with fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, in Saraya Square in western Gaza City on 19 January 2025. AFP 

 

20:00 Hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are preparing to welcome prisoners set to be freed from Israeli jails as part of the captive-prisoner swap under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Sunday evening.

 

 

19:40 Mostafa Barghouthi, the General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, described the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of 15 months of an Israeli genocidal war as nothing less than "unprecedented and historic."

"Honouring the great steadfastness and sacrifices of the Palestinian people in Gaza over 15 months - 170,000 dead and wounded - mandates that the various components of the national movement unite to defeat the looming Israeli plans to annex the West Bank," Barghouthi told Al Jazeera.

"The release of our prisoners will give us confidence in our struggle for our freedom and to rid ourselves of a racist, colonial occupation," he added.

 

 

19:30 Families and friends of some of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released from Israeli jails on Sunday evening gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.

Among those waiting was Fadia Barghouti, who was arrested from Ramallah in April and spent three months in prison without being given a reason.

Fadia said she hoped to see friends she had been detained with.

“I’m happy, because of the ceasefire people can live peacefully,” she said.

She said the war in Gaza is evidence that no one in the Middle East can live peacefully until Palestinians have their rights.

19:00 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the three captives freed from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas had endured a horrific ordeal.

"I know, we all know, they have been through hell. They are emerging from darkness into light, from bondage to freedom," a dejected Netanyahu said during a phone call with an Israeli official who was briefing him on the release of the three female captives.

18:45 At least 330 humanitarian aid trucks, including 20 carrying fuel, have so far crossed from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to the Karm Abu Salem and Al-Ouga crossings, according to Extra News Channel.

UNICEF Spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf tells Al-Qahera News Sunday that all children under the age of two in Gaza suffer from malnutrition.

The spokesperson adds that at least 14,000 children have been killed as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza, including many still trapped under the rubble.

Approximately 2,500 children in Gaza are in urgent need of medical evacuation.

This devastating situation underscores the dire humanitarian crisis in the region and the urgent need for international intervention to protect and support Gaza's vulnerable children, added Abu Khalaf.

18:00 Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of the Ezzeddine Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, delivered a televised speech to Palestinians and the world hours after the ceasefire deal went into effect.

"We fought alongside all factions of the resistance, standing as one across every part of Gaza, delivering deadly blows to the enemy," said Abu Obeida in his first televised speech in over 100 days.

He added that Hamas fighters showed "immense courage and exceptional bravery," continuing to fight until the final hours despite "what seemed like impossible conditions."

Describing the Palestinian resistance against the 15-month Israeli assault on Gaza, Abu Obeida said, "We were faced with an unequal confrontation, both in terms of combat capabilities and warfare ethics."

He stressed that Israel responded to resistance strikes with "unprecedented levels of brutality and grotesque crimes against our people."

Naming Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh al-Arouri, and Yahya Sinwar, Abu Obeida celebrated the glory of the martyrdom of the group's highest-ranking leaders who were assassinated by Israel in Tehran, Beirut and Gaza, respectively, over the past year.

He said: "The greatness of this battle is evident in the fact that our leaders are at the forefront of those martyred.”

Regarding the next phase, Abu Obeida said that the most significant responsibility now lies with the Palestinians in the West Bank, describing the city of Jenin — the epicentre of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank — as "the sister of Gaza in spirit, heroism, and resilience."

 


 

Abu Obeida also expressed pride in the Palestinian people, saying, "We feel the immense pain endured by our people, a price paid for the liberation of the land, the people, and the sanctities."

He noted that reaching a ceasefire agreement to halt the "Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people has been our goal for many months, even since the start of the aggression."

Abu Obeida said Hamas would abide by a ceasefire agreement and all its terms and timetable but that any possible Israeli violations would endanger the process and put the lives of captives at risk.

"We and the resistance factions reaffirm our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement while emphasizing that everything depends on the enemy's adherence to the deal."

He called on mediators Egypt, Qatar and the US to ensure that Israel abide by the terms of the deal.

Abu Obeida extended gratitude to "our brothers" in Yemen’s Houthis and our "comrades-in-arms" in Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah, "who have made great sacrifices in our battle."

He also thanked the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and "our brothers in Jordan who crossed the borders with the occupier."

He said they are receiving "millions of messages of support from across our Arab and Islamic nations," affirming that "we are of you, and you are of us."

Abu Obeida concluded: "This criminal enemy (Israel) is the root of all calamities in the region, and all efforts and plans must focus on curbing its influence. All attempts to integrate this entity into the region will be met with a flood of awareness and resistance from free peoples."

17:55 Speaking during a visit to a church in North Charleston, South Carolina, US President Joe Biden said: “The guns in Gaza have gone silent.”

Biden said he had just received a call saying the three Israeli captives were freed as part of the captive-prisoner swap under the ceasefire deal, which was mediated by his administration alongside Egypt and Qatar.

“They appear to be in good health.”

17:50 The Israeli army confirmed receiving the three female captives released by Hamas from the Red Cross.

Israeli army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, in a press conference, said former hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher “are now in safe hands.”

“They are in our hands. They are coming home,” he says.

The three women are being brought to a facility near the border for an initial checkup before being taken to a hospital.


Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) speak with fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, in Gaza City on 19 January 2025. AFP

 

17:40 Al-Qahera News revealed the list of the 90 Palestinian prisoners, including 69 women and 21 young men, who will be released today as part of the first batch of captive-prisoner swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The women to be released include: Walaa Khaled Fawzi Tanji, Nawal Muhammad Mahmoud Abdul Fatiha, Rawda Musa Abdul Qader Abu Ajamiya, Aseel Osama Omar Shahada, Tamara Muammar Hussein Abu Laban, Nafisa Rashid Farid Zorba, Yasmine Abdul Rahman Rashid Abu Surur, Khalida Kanaan Muhammad Jarar, Jenin Muhammad Taha Amr, Fatima Nimr Muhammad Rimawi, Zahra Wahib Abdul Fattah Khadraj, Fatima Muhammad Suleiman Saqr, Dalal Muhammad Suleiman Khasib, Mona Ahmed Qasim Abu Hussein, and Bushra Jamal Muhammad Tawil.

The young men to be released include: Thaer Ayoub Rashid Abu Sarah, Qasim Iyad Mohamed Jaafari, Yousef Jamal Ayyad Al-Harimi, Saeed Mazid Said Salim, Firas Jihad Ahmed Al-Maqdisi, Abdul Aziz Mohamed Abdel Aziz Atawneh, Fadi Bassam Mohamed Hindi, Osama Nasser Gebran Abdo Ataya, Ayham Ali Issa Jaradat, Adam Khalil Ibrahim Hadra, and Laith Muhammad Naji Kamil.

 

 

According to the Associated Press, among the 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released today is 15-year-old Mahmoud Aliowat, the youngest of the prisoners.

Among the most prominent of the 69 women set to be released are:

Khalida Jarrar, 62, is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. New York-based Human Rights Watch said her repeated arrests are part of Israel’s broader crackdown on non-violent political opposition.

Dalal Khaseeb, 53, is the sister of former Hamas second-in-command Saleh Arouri. Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike in a southern Beirut suburb in January 2024.

Abla Abdelrasoul, 68, is the wife of detained PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat. Saadat is serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli jails.

17:30 The Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told CNN on Sunday that Israel failed in achieving its goal of defeating Hamas as the Palestinian group remains in power in the Gaza Strip.

Sa'ar added that the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails under the ceasefire deal was a painful and risky affair.

17:05 In their complete olive and black fatigues and carrying their weapons, fighters Ezzeddine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released three Israeli females captured on 7 October to the Red Cross in 1st prisoner-captive swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal, which went into effect on Sunday afternoon.

The release occurred in Saraya Square in Gaza City ecstatically as hundreds of Palestinians celebrated and chanted patriotic songs.

 

 

The Israeli captives freed are Romi Gonen, a 23-year-old Israeli national; Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli national; and Doron Steinbrecher, a 30-year-old Israeli-Romanian.

 


Romi Gonen (L) Emily Damari (C) and Doron Steinbrecher. Photo circulating on Israeli media.

 

 

16:02 The transfer of Palestinian female prisoners, who are scheduled to be released today, has begun from Damon Prison to Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, according to Palestinian media.

The Palestinian Information Center published photos of buses carrying the female detainees upon their arrival at Ofer Prison. They are among 90 women and children set to be freed as part of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal.

The list of Palestinian prisoners to be released, obtained by Al Jazeera, includes 69 women and 21 children.

 

 

15:59 A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza is on its way to collect Israeli captives, Reuters reported.

It is unclear how long the process will take before the Israelis are handed over. 

 

 

15:22 The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office reported that Israeli forces have raided the homes of some Jerusalemite prisoners expected to be released in the first phase of the agreement.

The occupation forces threatened the families, prohibiting gatherings to welcome the released prisoners, according to Al Jazeera.

They also banned the display of the Palestinian flag or any resistance banners. Families were restricted to receiving only first-degree relatives as visitors.

In its statement, Hamas said earlier it expects a list from Israel of 90 women and children detainees in Israeli prisons to be released as part of the deal.

The truce deal stipulated "the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one civilian detainee", the resistance group said, adding that the 90 prisoners expected for release Sunday would be drawn from a submitted list of 120 women and children in total.

14:56 Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip began to return to the remnants of their homes, forced to evacuate during the 15 months of genocidal Israeli war.

They encountered the grim reality of the war firsthand, stumbling upon bodies lying in the streets, some of whom appeared to have been lying in the open for weeks.

“They’re returning to retrieve their loved ones under the rubble,” Mohamed Mahdi, a displaced Palestinian and father of two, told the AP. He was forced to leave his three-story home in Gaza City’s southeastern Zaytoun neighbourhood a few months ago,

Mahdi managed to reach his home Sunday morning, walking amid the rubble from western Gaza.

 

 

14:31 The toll of the war has been immense, and new details on its scope will now emerge. Israel has killed at least 46,913 Palestinians in Gaza, primarily women and children.

Another 110,750 have been wounded since Israel launched its war on the Palestinian territory. 

At least 25 of those were killed and 14 injured over the past 24 hours.

14:13 Egypt is set to establish a new relief camp for Palestinians in Gaza, Al-Qahera News correspondent said, adding that ten trucks carrying equipment for the camp already entered the strip on Sunday morning.

This will be the third such camp set up by Egypt in Gaza since the start of the Israeli assault, following the establishment of at least two camps in Khan Younis.

14:00 Delegations from Arab and international media have arrived at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to oversee aid entry into the Gaza Strip. 

13:53 The first World Food Programme (WFP) trucks have started crossing from Egypt through Karam Abu Salem into Gaza.

"WFP can send around 30,000 tons of food each month to reach over 1 million people. "

"All border crossings must remain open & function efficiently & reliably."

 

 

UN aid official Jonathan Whittall, interim chief of the UN's OCHA aid agency for the Palestinian territories, said on X that "the first trucks of supplies started entering" minutes after the ceasefire took effect on Sunday morning.

"A massive effort has been underway over the past days from humanitarian partners to load and prepare to distribute a surge of aid across all of Gaza."

The UN did not give details on where the shipments entered Gaza, but an Egyptian source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that "197 trucks of aid and five of fuel entered through the crossing of Karm Abu Salem between Israel and Gaza and that of Al-Ouga and Nitzana between Egypt and Israel."

13:02 Hamas said it is awaiting the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel today.

This list of 90 individuals comprises solely women and children, who are scheduled for release as part of the ceasefire agreement, the Authority of Prisoners' Affairs said. 

The 42-day first phase will see the release of over 1,890 Palestinian prisoners, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

Media reports have circulated the names of some Palestinian prisoners expected to be released from Israeli prisons.

12:43 Approximately 200 trucks entered the Karm Abu Salem and Al-Awja crossings for inspections and preparations before being delivered to Gaza, reported Al-Qahera News, nearly one hour after the ceasefire began.

Also, the channel added around six fuel trucks entering Gaza from Egypt.

12:31 The Government Media Office in Gaza said thousands of Palestinian police officers have been deployed in the territory “as part of a government plan to maintain security and order across various governorates.”

It also said municipalities have started “re-opening and rehabilitating streets.”

“Government ministries and institutions are fully prepared to begin operations according to the government plan to ensure the swift and gradual return of normal life,” the statement said, adding that the return of displaced people will commence seven days after the ceasefire comes into effect.

“We call on our people to stay away from destroyed areas to avoid potential dangers, avoid shelled homes to prevent sudden collapses, and stay clear of suspicious rockets and objects,” read the text.

12:13 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the release of three captives held in Gaza will take place after 04:00 pm (14:00 GMT).

A statement also said four other female captives would be released in seven days.

12:03 The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said it has 4,000 truckloads of humanitarian assistance ready to enter the Gaza Strip. Half of them carry food and flour.

Hundreds of aid trucks have begun moving from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing toward the Gaza Strip through the Karm Abu Salem crossing, Al-Qahera News reported earlier.

The trucks have been waiting at the Egyptian side of the crossing since early morning in anticipation of a ceasefire.

Just before the ceasefire agreement took effect, around 100 trucks had already entered Karm Abu Salem for inspections and preparations for delivery to Gaza.

 

 

12:00 Celebrations erupted across the war-ravaged territory, and some Palestinians began returning to their homes despite the delay.

Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said that they had heard no new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before it was finally implemented, Reuters reported.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks killed 19 Palestinians and wounded 36 others between 08:30, when the ceasefire was meant to begin, and 11:15, when it took effect, Palestinian medics said.

One person was killed in Rafah, six in Khan Younis, nine in Gaza City, and three in the north, the spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement.

 


Displaced Palestinians wave national flags as they return to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP


Displaced Palestinians cheer as they return to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP


Children cheer in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. AFP

 

11:40 Qatar confirmed the start of a truce between Israel and Hamas and said some of the initial three Israeli captives to be freed hold foreign citizenship.

"We confirm that the names of the three hostages who will be released today have been handed over to the Israeli side. They are three Israeli citizens, one of whom holds Romanian citizenship and the other British citizenship. Thus, the ceasefire has begun," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.

11:18 Israel said a truce with Hamas began in Gaza at 09:15 GMT, nearly three hours after initially scheduled, following a last-minute delay on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

11:09 Israel says ceasefire to start at 11:15 local time (09:15 GMT)

11:04 The Israeli army has received an order to cease fire in the Gaza Strip, Israel's Channel 12 reported.

Israel has confirmed receiving a list of captives to be released from Gaza ahead of the ceasefire. 

10:51 Hamas has urged mediators to press Israel for the list of Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released today as part of the ceasefire deal; sources told Al Jazeera.

10:29 Hamas military spokesperson Abu Obaida announced in a statement the names of three Israeli women to be released from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal.

The announcement of the names was delayed, pushing back the scheduled ceasefire time of 8:30 in the morning. Israel continued shelling Gaza during this period.

The truce is expected to come into effect at any moment now.

Al-Qahera News reported that hundreds of trucks carrying aid have been waiting at the Egyptian side of the Rafah in preparation for entering Gaza.  

 

 

10:22 Dozens of people took to the streets in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis to celebrate the ceasefire, according to an Associated Press reporter. Four masked and armed Hamas fighters arrived in two vehicles as the celebrations were underway, with people welcoming them and chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance group.

Spontaneous celebrations broke out in other cities as the deadline for the ceasefire passed.

The police began deploying in public after mostly lying low for months due to Israeli airstrikes.

Gaza City residents said they had seen them operating in parts of the city, and the AP reporter in Khan Younis saw a small number out on the streets.

Palestinian residents began returning to their homes in parts of Gaza City, even as tank shelling continued.

Since morning, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 10 Palestinians across the besieged strip, according to the most recent toll.

 

 

10:18 The party of Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says its cabinet ministers submitted their resignations from the government on Sunday in opposition to the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The Jewish Power party's departure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not bring down the coalition or affect the ceasefire. 

10:11 Israel Channel 12 reports that Tel Aviv has officially received the list of Israeli detainees to be released by Hamas from Gaza.

10:06 A Hamas official told AFP that a list of Israeli captives to be released under the ceasefire deal with Israel would be handed over "any moment" but that complexities in Gaza and Israeli bombing were causing delays.

The Doha-based official, who took part in the ceasefire negotiations, said at "any moment, the names of the three captives... will be handed over, but the complexities of the field situation and the continued bombing have delayed that." 

Meanwhile, an Israeli official said the Gaza ceasefire deal was expected to proceed despite the delay in the truce's start.

The official told AP that the timing of the deal’s progress remained in question but also that mediators had provided assurances that Hamas would deliver the list of captives.

Additionally, Israeli Channel 12 reported that Israeli officials estimate the identities of the three women captives expected to be released will be announced very soon.

 


Scores of displaced Palestinians walk along a road in the Saftawi area of Jabalia as they leave areas near Gaza City, where they had taken refuge toward the further northern part of the Gaza Strip.

 

10:00 US President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is reportedly considering a visit to the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of efforts to ensure the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas remains intact, an official involved in the process told NBC News.

A visit to Gaza would allow Witkoff to gain firsthand insight into the situation on the ground rather than relying solely on accounts from Israel or Palestinian officials, the source said. “You’ve got to see it, you’ve got to feel it,” the official added.

While managing the current ceasefire, Trump’s team is also reportedly exploring longer-term solutions, including the potential displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Indonesia is among the possible destinations being discussed.

09:38 The death toll continues to rise. Gaza rescuers say eight Palestinians were killed and several wounded in Israeli strikes.

09:37 Al Araby TV has documented Israeli forces firing upon Palestinians attempting to return to their homes in Rafah. 

Eyewitnesses in and around Gaza City are reporting gunfire and explosions in multiple locations. 

Al Jazeera's live broadcast is currently showing Israeli airstrikes with plumes of smoke rising from impacted areas.

09:30 The Palestinian death toll has risen to five in the last hour, with at least 20 injured, following Israeli gunfire and shelling in Gaza City's eastern neighbourhoods of Al-Shuja'iya and Al-Sha'af after Israel delayed the implementation of a ceasefire agreement, media reports said.

09:19 At least three Palestinians were killed and 20 injured by Israeli forces in Gaza City, Al Jazeera reported.

​The Israeli army demolished several buildings while simultaneously conducting artillery shelling north of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

The occupation forces also fired heavy machine guns toward the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City.

Another 10 injuries were reported at the Al-Mamdani Hospital in Gaza City as a result of remnants of Israeli munitions exploding among civilians in the civil administration area east of Jabalia camp, northern Gaza.

Several others were also injured by gunfire in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, shortly after the Israeli army delayed the ceasefire agreement.

09:03 Israeli artillery shelling hit east of Khan Younis and north of Nuseirat.

Al Jazeera reports several injuries caused by Israeli occupation forces' fire in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian residents have already begun returning to their homes in parts of Gaza City early Sunday, even as tank shelling continued to the east, closer to the Israeli border.

Residents said that families could be seen making their way back on foot with their belongings loaded on donkey carts.

“The sound of shelling and explosions didn’t stop,” Ahmed Matter, a Gaza City resident, told AP. He said he saw many families leaving their shelters and returning to their homes. “People are impatient. They want this madness to end," he added.

The Guardian correspondent Bethan McKernan also reported that it “seems like people are already trying to move back home” in Gaza, thinking the ceasefire has gone into effect and that Israel looks to be trying to stop them.

She said there are “big plumes of black smoke over Beit Hanoun, and the sound of outgoing artillery and automatic gunfire can be heard."

08:39 Israel's army says the Gaza ceasefire is "still not in effect." It says it is still operating in Gaza as a dispute with Hamas delays the start of the truce.

Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, said the truce would not begin until Hamas hands over the names of three captives to be released later on Sunday, echoing an earlier statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As reported earlier, Hamas said the delay in handing over the names was due to “technical field reasons.”

A statement stressed that it is committed to the ceasefire deal announced last week.

08:28 The Israeli military announced Sunday that it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier, Oron Shaul, who had been held in Gaza since 2014.

"Last night, in a special operation by the Shin Bet (security agency) and the IDF (military)... we brought back to Israel the body of Golani fighter Oron Shaul," the Israeli occupation army said in a statement as the ceasefire is experiencing some delays.

08:20 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the ceasefire in Gaza scheduled to begin at 06:30 GMT would not commence unless "Hamas provided a list of Israeli captives to be released, as the Palestinian group has committed to providing," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Hamas said it was "affirming its commitment" to the ceasefire terms.

"The delay in providing the names of those to be released in the first batch is due to technical reasons," the resistance group said in a statement. 

A Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters that the delay occurred because mediators had asked for 48 hours of "calm" before the ceasefire's implementation. However, continued Israeli strikes until the deadline made sending the list difficult.

 

These are the pivotal moments that defined the brutal 15-month war:


Qatar confirmed the timing of the start of the ceasefire on Saturday.

“As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30am on Sunday, January 19, local time in Gaza,” Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, stated on X.

The Qatari announcement came hours after the Israeli cabinet approved the agreement that was reached on Wednesday in Doha.

Egypt, Qatar, and the US mediated the three-phase ceasefire/prisoner swap deal and will guarantee it.

Israel is set to release 1,890 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase, Egypt confirmed on Saturday night.

Israel's justice ministry said earlier that 737 Palestinian prisoners will be freed as part of the first phase.

Hamas and Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza will release 33 Israeli captives in the first phase.

According to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas during Phase I, allowing for the unfettered entry of humanitarian aid to the strip and the start of the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.

In Phases II and III, more captives-for-prisoners swaps are expected, and preparations for reconstructing the strip will start in Phase III.

Egyptian officials reported that a joint operations room has been established in Cairo to monitor and enforce compliance with the ceasefire.

The first truce in the Gaza war in November 2023, which involved the exchange of 100 Israeli captives for 300 Palestinians in Israeli jails, lasted a week.

Since then, Israel sabotaged all mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire, opting to expand the genocide.

Immediately after the deal was announced on Wednesday evening, thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets in Gaza to celebrate.

However, Israeli warplanes pounded residential blocks across the strip, killing and wounding dozens of civilians.

I hope genocide will end!
 

"I will go to kiss my land," Nasr al-Gharabli, a displaced resident of Gaza City, told AFP. 

"If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person."

The Israeli war on Gaza, deemed genocidal by the International Court of Justice in January 2024, has left the Gaza Strip in ruins.

Israeli bombardment, more significant in scale and intensity than any other war known in history, destroyed 72 percent of all homes and most schools and hospitals in the strip.

Using tens of billions in arms sales from the United States, Israel killed over 46,899 people—most of them children and women— and wounded over 110,000.

Thousands more are buried under the rubble.

Journalists and aid workers have not been spared from such massacres, with dozens targetted and killed in Israeli strikes.

In tandem, an Israeli blockade on most food, water, and medicine has left the population on the verge of starvation

Displaced Palestinians had to dig trenches under tents to shield kids from Israeli airstrikes and cold in Gaza!

It was also a journey of exile. 

Check out our photo galleries here and here.

In the hours before the deal goes into effect, Egypt has started intensive preparations in North Sinai to deliver thousands of tons of urgent humanitarian aid through a re-opened Rafah border crossing with Gaza to a near-starving population in the strip.

Hundreds of trucks carrying food, water, and medicine to Gaza lined the road from Arish to Rafah, waiting for the green light to enter the strip.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said 50 fuel trucks will enter the Gaza Strip when the ceasefire starts on Sunday.

Abdelatty said Cairo allows "the entry of 600 trucks per day to the Strip, including 50 trucks of fuel."

Humanitarian organizations warn of immense challenges in delivering aid to Gaza.

Much of the infrastructure needed to process aid shipments has been destroyed.

Israeli legislation banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA, set to take effect by the end of January, could further impede relief efforts.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has even said that Israel is waging a concerted campaign aimed at destroying UNRWA, 

International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) examine evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed during the war

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case with the ICJ accusing Israel of violation of the Genocide Convention.

Ireland and 14 other countries intervened in the South African case against Tel Aviv.

Multiple attempts in the United Nations Security to pass resolutions to end the war were vetoed by the United States and ignored by Israel.

In a crackdown in the occupied West Bank, Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians and arrested thousands more.

Israel also killed hundreds of Lebanese and destroyed thousands of homes in a war against Lebanon that ran parallel to its war in Gaza.

Justice for Palestine!

Despite international opposition to the genocide, with millions taking to the streets in global capitals to call for a ceasefire, Israel opted to continue its crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza unabated.

Israeli warplanes pounded more homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.

Time and again, Israeli forces destroyed or ransacked hospitals, detaining patients and medical staff alike.

In one of the most tragic cases, Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, the head of orthopaedics at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, was tortured to death in an Israeli prison after more than four months in detention.

 

 

UN said that hospitals in the Gaza Strip, targeted by Israel, had become a "death trap." Even newborns are fighting for survival in Gaza’s last standing hospital!

Read more on Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals here.

In tandem, Gazans who were detained and then released by Israel told harrowing stories of torture they faced in captivity.

The story of Khaled Nabhan, a Gazan man who publicly mourned his granddaughter killed by Israel earlier in the war before being killed months later, epitomized one of the tragedies of Israel’s war - losing loved ones one after the other.

Revisit our story.

Hind Rajab's voice is still with us.

"I am so scared," the six-year-old said in a desperate phone call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

She was pleading for help as she lay dying after an Israeli drone targeted the car carrying her and her family.

"Call someone to come get me, please!"

Hind was found dead hours later.

So Long Hind!

On the other side, the Israeli army admitted to losing 891 soldiers during battle and 38 to suicide in 2023-2024.

Hamas, in a statement issued Saturday, said Israel had “failed to achieve its aggressive goals” and had “only succeeded in committing war crimes that disgrace the dignity of humanity.”

The ceasefire deal comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to assume a second term in the White House on 20 January.

Mediators indicated that Trump’s imminent return to office played a significant role in expediting the agreement.

In Israel, extremist ministers, including Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, voted against the truce as their dreams of expelling the Palestinians from Gaza - and ethnically cleansing north Gaza to rebuild settlements - crashed before their eyes.

However, Tel Aviv has not revealed its post-war plans for Gaza beyond rejecting roles for both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Gaza should come under the control of the Palestinian Authority and that Israel must agree on a pathway to a Palestinian state.

President Mahmoud Abbas also announced that the Palestinian Authority is ready to assume full responsibility for Gaza’s administration after the war.

Despite all this, the Palestinian population in Gaza has not been uprooted and will live one more day.

 

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