Israel-Hamas War: 4-Day Ceasefire Goes into Effect in Gaza
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Alaina
- . November 24, 2023
- . Update: November 24, 2023 3:22 pm
With the 4-day ceasefire in effect between Israel and Hamas, the first set of 13 hostages will be released in the next couple of hours. Israel will release 39 Palestinian prisoners, including 24 women and 15 teenaged males, in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas will release 50 hostages over the four days. 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the same period. The Palestinian prisoners would be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Qadura Fares, Palestinian Commissioner for Prisons, said after the Red Cross receives the Palestinian prisoners, the ones from Jerusalem will go to Jerusalem, and the ones from the West Bank will gather in Betunia municipal council where their families will be waiting.
This will coincide with the planned handover of the 13 Israeli hostages with Hamas at the Gaza-Egypt border. The much awaited truce comes after the negotiators reached a deal which was agreed upon by both the Hamas and Israel. About 15,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war and millions displaced.
Fuel Trucks Enter Gaza
Trucks full of food and medical supplies, and fuel trucks entered Gaza from the Rafah crossing. Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said four fuel tankers and four tankers carrying cooking gas entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing. It highlighted that the fuel and cooking gas are designated for operating essential humanitarian infrastructure in the besieged territory. Egypt said in a statement that 130,000 liters of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza, along with 200 trucks of aid would enter the territory daily.
Joel Weiler, executive director of Doctors of the World (France-based relief organization), said the four-day window was far too short. “Even if the aid enters, it will take three to four days to deliver to doctors to get it, and then the fighting starts again.” He described this as a joke. “It’s white-washing.”
Della Longa, who is with the Red Cross and Red Crescent, believes freedom of movement for humanitarians is another concern. He said it’s not enough to open up a gate. “After opening a gate, you need to create a safe humanitarian space where we can work. One upside is that during the four-day pause in fighting, aid groups could reach different people, different communities and different hospitals that were not reachable before, like in the north.”
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Meanwhile, Israeli officials say this truce is only temporary. Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told troops they are not ending the war. “We will continue until we are victorious.” Moreover, Israel’s military said its troops would stay behind a ceasefire line inside Gaza. “These will be complicated days and nothing is certain.” Israel Prime Minister’s Office said control over northern Gaza is the first step of a long war. “And we are preparing for the next stages. Furthermore, the Israeli military warned Palestinians in a social media post that the war is not over yet. “The humanitarian pause is temporary. The northern Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move north. For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south.”
