“This happened after the Israeli side received from the Hamas group, recognized as a terrorist group in the United States and the European Union, a list of hostages for exchange on Sundayβ, β write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Earlier, the truce was expected to begin at 8:30 am today. However, hours before the expected truce, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army not to impose a cease-fire regime in the Gaza Strip until receiving from Hamas a list of hostages to be released.
The official representative of the Israel Defense Forces, Daniel Hagari, confirmed in the morning that the IDF continues to strike Gaza due to Hamas’ failure to fulfill the terms of the agreement.
The representatives of the group stated that they adhere to the agreements reached, and the delay in the publication of the list was caused by technical reasons.
Israeli media later reported that Hamas had handed over a list of hostages to be released on January 19. The office of the Prime Minister of Israel confirmed that they had received the list of hostages.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas, reached with the help of mediators, consists of several stages. In particular, in the first phase, which will last 42 days, the Palestinian group has pledged to release 33 hostages, and Israel to begin the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip.
In response, Israel is expected to release a total of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
In a televised address on January 18, Netanyahu called the 42-day first phase a “temporary ceasefire” and noted that Israel has US support for a possible resumption of hostilities in Gaza “if the next phases of the agreement are not implemented.”
The current phase of hostilities in Hamas-controlled territory began after the group’s militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Some of these people were released during exchanges. Currently, according to Israeli special services, 99 hostages remain in the captivity of “Hamas”, some of them are dead.
In response to the October 7 attack, Israel launched a large-scale military operation during which, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 45 thousand residents of the territory were killed (there is no independent confirmation of this data, nor is it specified how many among the dead were militants, and how many civilians). The Israel Defense Forces also killed many top Hamas leaders and destroyed part of the group’s military infrastructure.