A truce between Israel and Hamas is set to begin on Sunday morning, ending Gaza's brutal 15-month war and paving the way for the release of hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group in the shattered enclave.
The six-week truce, which will come into effect on August 30 local time (June 30 GMT), is a multi-stage deal hammered out by US-led mediators last week after months of failure to reach an agreement. the first stage.
If the truce holds, Hamas will release three of the 98 hostages it still holds in Gaza later on Sunday. In exchange, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners.
But in a sign of the pact's fragility, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an hour before the deal came into effect that it would not begin unless Hamas provided Israel with the names of the hostages to be released on Sunday. .
Minutes later, Hamas said in a statement that it was committed to the ceasefire and that the delay in providing names was due to "technical reasons on the ground."
The multi-phase deal raises hopes of halting and potentially ending the bloodiest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has reduced Gaza to rubble, engulfed Israeli society and pushed the Middle East to the brink of collapse. total war.
The fighting was sparked by Hamas's shocking attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, adding to the massacre since The deadliest day for Jews saw another 250 hostages taken.
Israel has launched a devastating attack on Gaza, killing more than 46,000 people and displacing most of the 2.3 million people in the coastal enclave, exacerbating the humanitarian disaster, according to Palestinian officials.
After more than half a year of failed attempts to broker a ceasefire, mediators announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a three-phase deal first proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden last May.
The first phase includes a six-week truce, during which Hamas will release a total of 33 hostages, including children, women, the sick and the elderly, in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
Under the first phase of the deal, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, including in northern Gaza. Israeli troops will also partially withdraw from Gaza, and large amounts of humanitarian aid will flow into the enclave.
If the deal goes as planned, on Day 16 of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin negotiating the details of the second phase of the deal, during which the remaining living hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, complete The agreement resulted in the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, ending the war permanently.
The final phase will include the return of the remaining bodies of the hostages and the start of Gaza's reconstruction under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
However, doubts remain over whether the deal will be fully implemented, with Netanyahu facing intense pressure from far-right members of his coalition to resume the war at the end of the deal's first phase.
Late on Saturday, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gver said his Jewish Power party would quit the government in protest of the deal, reducing Netanyahu's majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Only two seats available.
Bengvir's ultranationalist ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has also threatened to withdraw from the government if the war does not resume after the first phase deal. If he does, Netanyahu will lose his parliamentary majority.