Gaza Truce to Commence on Sunday Morning
“Based on the agreement between the parties… the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30am on Sunday. We advise our brothers to take precautions, exercise the utmost caution, and await instructions from official sources,” spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a tweet on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli government ratified the agreement after meeting for more than six hours, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement.
The deal was approved after more than 460 days of war in which Israeli forces have killed more than 46,788 Palestinians and wounded 110,453. It would see the release of 33 captives held in Gaza over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by the occupation regime.
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The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli forces have kept up heavy attacks.
Medics in Gaza said an Israeli air strike early on Saturday killed five people in the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” area, west of Khan Younis in the enclave’s south.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that a man from the Qudra family was killed along with his wife and their three children in the attack.
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An Israeli drone strike also killed three Palestinian civilians in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City late on Friday, according to Wafa.
This brought to at least 119 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombardment since the ceasefire accord was announced on Wednesday.
Source: Al Jazeera
