The four day humanitarian truce reached between Israel and Hamas Egypt earlier this week is set to come into effect on 24 November. 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be released over the four-day truce. "Egypt, Qatar, and the US are the guarantors of a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip that will come into effect on 24 November, as stated by Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas militant group.
Earlier this week, Hamas said that it had reached an agreement with Israel on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
Humanitarian Truce in Gaza War
Hamas official Bassem Naim said that “Qatar, Egypt, and the US are acting as guarantors of the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.” “The humanitarian truce is an important step towards easing the sufferings of the Palestinian people,” he asserted.
“Mediators and some international parties have promised to deliver more than 200 truckloads of aid [per day] to Gaza during the truce,” Naim stated.
Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that the ceasefire will last four days, beginning at 7 am (0500 GMT) local time on Friday, and will be accompanied by the suspension of all military actions by Al-Qassam and other Gaza-based military factions, and additional restrictions on Israeli army operations.
According to the statement, Israeli planes will stop flying in southern Gaza and northern Gaza for six hours every day, from 10 am to 4 pm. Moreover, according to the deal, Israeli hostages held in Gaza will be released for female and teenage Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, with one Israeli hostage being released for three Palestinian prisoners.
50 Israeli hostages, forcibly kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, will be released during the scheduled four-day truce, the statement read. The ceasefire would also allow 200 trucks of humanitarian and medical supplies, and four trucks of fuel and cooking gas to enter Gaza daily.
Israel and Hamas are set to initiate a four-day truce on Friday, Qatari spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said, marking the first agreement in the nearly seven-week conflict. The ceasefire, starting at 7 a.m. local time, covers both north and south Gaza https://t.co/zkv3VtSn8n pic.twitter.com/GAf8V4jGEi
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 24, 2023
Exchange Only Way to Free Hostages: Hamas
Abu Ubayda, spokesperson for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said that exchange with Hamas is the only way for Israel to rescue its citizens.
“The enemy’s decision to temporarily ceasefire and hold a partial exchange [of captives] is what we had suggested before the start of the Zionist [Israeli] manoeuvres on the ground. But the enemy rejected it, saying that it will achieve the result by military force.” the spokesperson said on the Telegram channel. “ However, as we have said before and will say again, exchanges are the only way for the enemy to have its captives returned.”
Ubayda accused Israel of “committing mass murders and indiscriminate destruction” on the ground, adding that “numerous enemy soldiers were killed or injured on the battlefield.” Israel, he claims, is “concealing its true casualties.”
The spokesperson urged Palestinians to “step up resistance to the occupation in all areas of the occupied West bank of the Jordan River [and] strike the enemy and chase it all over Palestine’s historic borders.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war began seven weeks ago in Gaza, the clashes on Lebanon's border with Israel have displaced nearly 50,000 people, according to the United Nations https://t.co/gWTnMMwT06 pic.twitter.com/4uDXajjIOR
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 24, 2023
Clashes on Israel-Lebanon Border
While Gaza is set to start a pause in hostilities, the situation in northern Israel continues to worsen. Tensions on Lebanon's border with Israel have displaced almost 50,000 people, based on UN data, and, so far, at least 13 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, Lebanese officials reported.
Israel announced on Thursday that it had been subjected to the largest attack from Lebanon since the Gaza conflict. According to Israeli Army Radio, around 50 rockets were launched at Upper Galilee communities, marking the largest bombardment in northern Israel.
Sirens sounded in Israeli villages near the Lebanese border, and direct impacts were recorded in residences in the Manara region, with no reported casualties.
According to Israeli officials, “two anti-tank missiles were fired at a lighting pole in Galilee Panhandle region. There were no casualties, but damage occurred.”
In a retaliatory move, the Israeli forces bombed several military locations of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement on Friday.
“IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including launch pads from which launches were carried out toward Israel over the past few days, and several military sites where Hezbollah terrorists were operating,” the statement read.
Hezbollah claims that by intensifying its border operations with Israel, it is relieving pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s aerial, ground, and naval attack has killed over 13,300 Palestinians and caused widespread devastation.