Ahmed Asmar
January 19, 2025•Update: January 19, 2025
GAZA CITY, Palestine
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect at 11.15 a.m. local time (0915GMT) on Sunday after a few hours delay.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the first phase of the ceasefire came into force Sunday at 0915 GMT.
The ceasefire was originally scheduled to start at 8.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), but it was delayed after Israel accused Hamas of delaying the release of a list of Israeli captives set to be released on Sunday.
Hamas said that it already submitted a list of three female Israeli captives set to be freed on Sunday.
Abu Obaida, spokesman of Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, identified the three captives as Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31.
Mediator Qatar also confirmed that the cease-fire took effect in Gaza after the names of the three captives set to be released on Sunday were handed over to Israel.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said the three captives include one with Romanian citizenship and another with British citizenship.
"Therefore, the cease-fire begins" in Gaza, the spokesman said on X.
Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli war on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
