Israel continues to target the Gaza Strip with air strikes, helicopter and drone strikes, resulting in more deaths and injuries, after 470 days of devastating war that has continued since October 7, 2023.

This comes on the eve of the prisoner exchange deal and ceasefire agreement in Gaza, which will go into effect in the first phase on Sunday with the release of 3 Israeli prisoners from the Strip in exchange for the release of 95 Palestinian prisoners, male and female, from Israeli prisons.

Politically, the Israeli government approved, after midnight on Friday-Saturday, a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas and a cessation of the war on the Gaza Strip. On Friday, the Israeli Ministry of Justice published a list of the names of 95 male and female prisoners who are scheduled to be released in the first batch of the expected prisoner exchange deal.

In a related development, Israeli military sources said on Saturday that its forces stationed inside Gaza are “preparing to implement the ceasefire agreement,” including “a gradual withdrawal from certain sites and roads inside the Gaza Strip,” noting at the same time that “Palestinian residents will not be allowed to return to areas where Israeli forces are stationed or near the border.”