Hamas provided the names of three female Israeli hostages it plans to hand over on Sunday, after a delay in releasing the list pushed back the start of a ceasefire in Gaza and led to more deadly strikes.
A suspension of hostilities will go into effect at 11.15am local time (4.15pm in Thailand) from 8:30am initially. The three hostages are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, who’s also a British national, according to Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government is reviewing the details of the list and the families of the hostages have been informed. Steinbrecher, 31, and Damari, 28, were kidnapped from Kfar Aza, and Gonen, 24, was abducted at the Nova music festival on Oct 7, 2023.
The Qatari and Egyptian-mediated deal backed by Washington stipulates an initial six-week truce during which 33 hostages will be freed by Hamas in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel. The first swap of three hostages for around 90 detainees was due to take place later on Sunday.
Hamas said that the delay in submitting the names of those to be released in the first batch was due to “technical and field reasons.”
The Israeli military said at 9.20am that it was striking in Gaza, and that “artillery and aircrafts struck a number of terror targets in northern and central Gaza.” It also said later that the Israeli Air Force is striking targets in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s civil defence - a branch of the Hamas-run interior ministry - says 13 Palestinians were killed since Sunday morning across the Gaza strip in a wave of Israeli airstrikes and shelling.
The militant group said it has begun deploying thousands of police officers according to a government plan to “maintain security and order”.
“Government ministries and institutions are fully prepared to begin work according to a plan to implement all procedures that ensure a gradual return to normal life,” Hamas said.
In the southern towns of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis, Hamas officers appeared in uniforms but were unarmed. A video circulating on social media showed armed men from Hamas’ military wing, dressed in uniforms, emerging on pick-ups from the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis surrounded by cheering revellers.
Elsewhere, Palestinians were documented moving on foot from Gaza City to the northern parts of the enclave in which Israel has been operating over the last several months.
Residents of northern Gaza who have fled to the enclave’s southern regions will not be permitted to return home until the seventh day of the ceasefire — initially on foot and later, on Day 22, by vehicles.
Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel has US guarantees to go back to fighting if negotiations on a second stage of the ceasefire falter and that “Israel is keeping significant assets in our hands in order to return all our hostages, and in order to meet all goals of the war.”
