With a brief delay, a long-awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas took effect on Sunday after the Palestinian militant group handed over to Israel a list of three captives to be released as part of the deal, ending more than 15 months of deadly strikes in Gaza and bringing respite to the besieged enclave.
The ceasefire, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, took effect at 11:15 local time (09:15 GMT) on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
The first stage of the truce was originally slated to begin this morning at 08:30, but was delayed when Israeli strikes in Gaza continued overnight and into Sunday morning citing Hamas's failure to provide a list of the first three hostages set to be released.
During the delay, Israel continued to strike the enclave, with at least 13 Palestinians killed and 30 others wounded, according to Gaza's Civil Defense agency.
In a statement, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the deal, but said the delay of providing the list was due to technical reasons.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari confirmed on Sunday that the Gaza ceasefire has officially begun as the list of three hostages to be released that day has been handed over to Israel.
"They are three Israeli citizens, one of whom is of Romanian nationality and the other of British nationality, and thus the ceasefire has begun," he said in a social media post.
Israeli authorities also confirmed that they had received the list and informed the families of the three captives.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Sunday "As part of the prisoner exchange deal, we decided to release today: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31."
The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see a total of 33 captives returned from Gaza with the release of the three female hostages on the first day of the ceasefire and the remaining 30 captives in batches every week.
In exchange, some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released.
Displaced Gazans are starting to return to their homes, while aid trucks lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing ahead of the deal going into effect.
In the past 15 months, over 46,000 Palestinian people in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli onslaught which began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas launched surprise attacks on southern Israel.
Gaza ceasefire takes effect after brief delay
