A humanitarian truce began in Gaza on Friday morning, followed by the release of a first batch of civilian prisoners held by the Hamas movement in the afternoon, while Hamas confirmed the exchange of Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners.

About the deal

Before entering into the truce, Israeli bombing targeted various areas in the Gaza Strip, causing dozens of casualties, most of them women and children. Palestinian media reported on Friday that “violent Israeli artillery shelling targeted southern and eastern Gaza.”

The Israeli army stated that sirens sounded in the Nir Oz area near Gaza minutes before the truce took effect.

In the details of the agreement, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said, “A first batch of civilian hostages will be delivered from the Gaza Strip at 4 p.m. (14:00 GMT) on Friday.” He pointed out that the number of those released will be 13, women and children.

Al-Ansari added, "It is clear that each day will include a number of released civilians, as was agreed upon, bringing the total to 50 over four days."

He continued, "In these four days, information will be collected about the rest of the hostages to consider the possibility of there being a larger number of hostages to be released and thus extending this truce."

Among those detained in Gaza are at least 13 mothers and their 22 children under the age of 18, according to a tally prepared by Agence France-Presse. At least 19 other people aged 18 or younger are being detained alone, with their parents or other family members.

For its part, the “Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades” confirmed that “the truce will enter into force at 7 a.m.,” noting that it “will apply for 4 days, starting on Friday morning, accompanied by a cessation of all military actions” on both sides.

During this period, “50 Israeli prisoners, women and children under the age of 19, will be released,” and for each one of them, “3 Palestinian prisoners, women and children,” will be released.

Basem Naim, a leader in Hamas, said: “We stipulated the release of Palestinian female prisoners and children from occupation prisons according to seniority.”

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced in a statement, "Receiving a preliminary list of names of the kidnapped," adding, "The competent authorities are examining the details of the list and are communicating in the meantime with all the families of the kidnapped."

In response to a question about whether he expected the kidnapped American child, Abigail Moore Aidan, to be among the first batch of hostages to be released, US President Joe Biden replied, “I hope so.”

For its part, the Israeli army announced that “the area north of the Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move around it, and the residents of Gaza must remain in the humanitarian zone south of the Strip.”

An Egyptian delegation in Jerusalem and Ramallah

At dawn on Friday, an Egyptian security source explained to Agence France-Presse that “an Egyptian security delegation arrives today in Jerusalem and Ramallah, with the aim of receiving the liberated Palestinian prisoners and monitoring compliance with the list of names that the Israeli government presented to the mediators and approved by Hamas.”

He added, "A number of Israeli security officials will be present in the Egyptian terminal at the Rafah crossing, accompanied by Egyptian security officials and representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Red Cross, to receive the Israeli prisoners released from Gaza. They will then be transported through Al-Arish International Airport, on a private plane, to Israel." ".

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have been holding about 240 prisoners in the Gaza Strip since the attack.

In this context, Egypt announced that 130,000 liters of diesel and four gas trucks will be delivered daily to Gaza when the truce begins.

The head of Egypt's State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said in a statement early Friday that 200 aid trucks would enter Gaza daily.

 The truce agreement was announced on the forty-seventh day of the war launched by Israel in response to the Hamas attack.

Also, Israel began extensive ground operations inside the Strip since October 27. It imposes a "total siege" on the Gaza Strip, which has no supplies of fuel, food, or water.

The residents of Gaza, nearly 1.7 million of whom were displaced out of 2.4 million due to the war, are looking forward to the truce in light of the difficulty of securing food, water, and clothing for the winter.

Many non-governmental organizations considered that four days were not enough to bring in the required assistance, calling for a ceasefire.

Storming the Indonesian hospital

Before the truce took effect, the Palestinian News Agency “Wafa” reported that “the Israeli occupation army stormed, on Friday morning, the Indonesian hospital in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, amid intense gunfire, and cold-bloodedly and brutally killed a wounded woman and wounded and arrested 6 others,” and this was confirmed. Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir Al-Bersh, told Agence France-Presse.

Health sources pointed out that “what the occupation is carrying out in the Indonesian hospital is a war crime that is more horrific and more severe than what it did in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex,” according to what Wafa reported.

On Thursday evening, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, announced that “the Indonesian hospital is subjected to violent bombardment, affecting electrical generators and large parts of buildings,” adding, “We fear for the lives of 200 wounded and medical staff.”