THE truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into force at 07:00 (local time and Greek time) and the release of the first 13 hostages is expected in the afternoon – around 16:00, as a respite is recorded for the first time after 49 days of merciless war.

Qatar, a key player in the negotiations which were also mediated by Egypt and the US, yesterday secured the agreement of the sides for a four-day ceasefire, with the possibility of renewal, under which about 50 hostages – women and children – will be released and in exchange some 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released, including women and children.

The implementation of the “humanitarian pause” in hostilities was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed until today.

At first light, as the relentless Israeli bombardment since the war broke out, thousands of people packed their belongings to go to their villages as families.

Omar Jibrin, 16, had taken refuge, along with eight other members of his family, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

About a quarter of an hour before the truce came into effect, he had already left the hospital and made his way east to his village, a few kilometers from Khan Yunis: “I’m going home,” he said.

But as cars, donkey-drawn carts, tuk-tuks started moving, leaflets in Arabic dropped from the air by Chahal, the Israeli army, warned: “The war is not over yet.”

“Returning to the north is forbidden and dangerous,” the leaflets emphasize, with three exclamation marks. The army has declared the northern part of the Palestinian enclave an operations zone and has repeatedly ordered all civilians to leave.

About fifteen minutes after the armistice went into effect, rocket warning sirens sounded in villages around the Gaza Strip. In previous wars between armed Palestinian organizations and Israel it was common for ceasefires to be violated within minutes of their implementation. However, no rocket launches by militants have been confirmed so far.

The first trucks with humanitarian aid passed the checkpoint at Rafah, on the border with Egypt, according to eyewitnesses, about an hour to an hour and a half after the ceasefire took effect. According to the Egyptian government, around 200 humanitarian aid trucks are expected to pass through each day. Also, 130,000 diesel fuel will be delivered.

“Secret” releases

Hamas has confirmed a “complete cessation of military activities” for the next four days, during which at least 50 hostages will be released in exchange for “three Palestinian prisoners” for each.

A source close to the Egyptian security forces said an Egyptian delegation would be present in Jerusalem and Ramallah to ensure “the list” of Palestinian prisoners to be released is “maintained”.

Israeli security officials, accompanied by Red Cross personnel and Egyptian agents, will be in the “Egyptian room” in Rafah to welcome freed hostages. They are planned to be airlifted to Al Ares and from there to Israel.

An AFP source in Hamas said that the release of the hostages will take place under conditions of secrecy and that journalists will not be allowed in Rafa.

The Israeli authorities will receive every night a list of the names of the hostages who will be released the next morning.

THE Mayan Zin she learned last night that her two daughters will not be among the hostages to be released today. “It’s incredibly difficult for me,” she said via X (formerly of Twitter), but added that she was “relieved for the other families.”

In East Jerusalem, the Samira Dwayat she hopes that they will release her daughter Suruk, 26, as she has already served half of the 16-year sentence imposed on her: “I cry, I laugh, I tremble…”, she said.

Israel released a list of the names of 300 Palestinians likely to be released: includes 33 women and 267 youths under 19. Among them, 49 are classified as Hamas members.

“We made it a condition that (…) women and children in prisons will be released” according to “antiquity”, that is, based on how long they have been held, said Bassam Naim, a senior Hamas official.

Back to war?

The international community welcomed the agreement to declare a ceasefire, seeing it as the first step towards a more lasting de-escalation of violence.

Saying he is working for a “long-term political solution to this crisis”, new British foreign minister David Cameron met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday and will hold talks with Palestinian officials today.

The Israeli government and the Israeli military have declared that they will “continue” the war to “eliminate” Hamas after the ceasefire ends.

“We will not stop the war. We will continue until victory,” assured the Chief of the Israeli National Defense General Staff, Herchi Halevi.

“The control of the northern part of the Gaza Strip is the first step of the long war and we are preparing for the next phases,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

On the other hand, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, called for the truce not to be “just a pause”, to make an effort to mark the end of the war that broke out on October 7.

The war broke out on October 7, when Hamas militants launched a raid against southern sectors of Israeli territory, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 240 hostages, in the deadliest attack since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.

More than 14,800 people, including some 6,150 children, have died in the Gaza Strip, which has been pounded relentlessly by the Israeli army in retaliation for the attack as the Israeli government vowed to “wipe out” Hamas, according to the latest count. report of the Ministry of Health.

The bombing has caused massive destruction and a humanitarian crisis, the UN says, as most of the Palestinian enclave’s population – 1.7 million of its 2.4 million inhabitants – has been displaced and aid is being distributed at a trickle.

Non-governmental organizations emphasize that the aid expected to enter the Gaza Strip in these four days is not enough and call for a longer-term ceasefire to be declared.