Qatar announced that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire will go into effect on Friday at 7 AM local time and that 13 hostages, Israeli women and children, will be released at 4 PM. In a televised statement, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing Abu Obeida issued threats hours before the slated ceasefire would take effect.
The Information Ministry in Gaza stated that the death toll since the beginning of the war is 14,854, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women.
According to the ministry, more than 36,000 are injured, with women and children making up 75 percent of that figure. It also reported that 46,000 houses have been destroyed.
About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel during the October 7 attack and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel-Hamas Truce Deal
A four-day Gaza truce will now start on Friday, mediator Qatar and the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas said after a day-long delay.
The agreement is also intended to provide aid to Gaza’s 2.4 million residents who face shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel after Israel tightened a siege of the territory.
Qatar confirmed the start time for the pause in fighting and said that an exchange of hostages and prisoners would follow hours later.
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Military Endeavors
The Israeli army carried out airstrikes, killing Amar Abu Jalalah, commander of the Hamas naval forces in Khan Yunis, in addition to several operatives within their forces.
Hamas confirmed that around 30 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school affiliated with the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
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Threats of Escalation
The spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, Abu Obeida, stated that the group’s fighters have destroyed 335 Israeli military vehicles since the beginning of the ground invasion in Gaza.
Another 33 vehicles were destroyed in the past 72 hours, Abu Obeida said in a pre-recorded statement. He added that group fighters have executed “dozens of operations” targeting Israeli infantry troops, namely in Beit Hanoun.
In the past three days, Hamas fighters have also engaged in “specialized operations” that caused the death of “enemy forces,” the group’s spokesperson said.
He said fighters are ready to confront Israeli forces for as long as the assault on Gaza endures, and called for the escalation of confrontations across the occupied West Bank and all “resistance” fronts.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
