By Athena Papakosta

From 07:00 this morning, the four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is expected to begin.

From 16:00 onwards the Islamist Palestinian organization should release the first group of hostages, which will consist only of women and children under the age of 19. Its 13 members will then be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Once the hostages are released, Israel will have to release 39 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

If the process goes smoothly, it should be repeated for the next three days until a total of 50 abductees are returned to Israel in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid in 200 trucks and four fuel tankers into the Gaza Strip.

Israel has made it clear that, despite the deal, the war against Hamas will continue. In fact, the country’s Defense Minister, Yoav Galand, said yesterday, Thursday, that the operations of the Israeli army will last for at least two more months.

However, the agreement states that the release of every 10 additional hostages will result in an additional day of ceasefire. This clause keeps hope alive for the families of the hostages who during this effort will not be reunited with their own as none of the relatives of the abductees has come forward in favor of a partial deal.

According to analysts, this agreement, which marks the first de-escalation after six weeks of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, remains fragile as everything hangs by a thread.

As the spokesman of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari, emphasized in his statements yesterday, the Gaza Strip remains a war zone. For this reason, Qatar, which has played a key role in the negotiations between the warring parties, calls for the channels of communication to remain open and makes it clear that the next moves will be announced, progressively.

According to information from foreign media, the ceasefire and the procedures for the release of the hostages will be controlled through Doha, which will be in open communication with Israel, the political office of Hamas in Qatar and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The same sources state that the hostages are expected to be transferred to Egypt, the only country that, apart from Israel, borders Gaza.

Israel received and verified the relevant list of the names of the 15 abductees who will be the first to return back to their loved ones and informed all the families of the approximately 240 hostages. As the office of the Israeli prime minister made known, he asked everyone, including the media, not to publicize the information of the abductees until they are back in Israel with their relatives.

The United States of America, which also played a key role in concluding the agreement, has not made any official position as, as the American president, Joe Biden himself, announced, Washington will wait until the process is completed.

It took 46 days for the warring parties to agree on terms for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas, the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. It also became necessary to have a one-day delay in starting its implementation. Today, the moment has come for it to materialize and everyone, especially the relatives of the hostages, are holding their breath hoping that the nightmare will come to an end.