The Israel-Hamas conflict entered a four-day ceasefire on Friday, marking the first significant lull in fighting that has resulted in thousands of deaths. Hostages are expected to be freed in return for prisoners.
After Hamas launched its deadly raids into Israel on October 7, the two sides in the war decided to put an end to hostilities by silencing weapons and stopping bombings at 7:00 am (0500 GMT).
According to Qatari mediators, as part of the agreement, a number of Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails will be released at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), after the release of 13 women and children held captive in Gaza.
Over the four days, at least 50 hostages are expected to be released, leaving an estimated 190 in the hands of Palestinian militants.
In exchange, 150 Palestinians prisoners are expected to be released.
For Gaza’s two million-plus residents, the deal brings a promise of respite from weeks of sustained Israeli bombardment.
The battle, according to the Hamas authority in the area, has killed over 15,000 people so far and displaced countless others.
Thousands of civilians who had fled to locations close to Gaza’s Egyptian border were getting ready to head back to their villages before dawn.
Omar Jibrin, 16, came out of a hospital in the southern part of the enclave, where he and eight family members had taken sanctuary, just minutes after the cease-fire went into force.
“I’m going home,” he told AFP as he began the journey.
However, Israeli warplanes over southern Gaza dropped leaflets warning people not to head back to the north.
“The war is not over yet,” the leaflets read. “Returning to the north is forbidden and very dangerous!!!”
The Israeli military reported that sirens alerting residents to impending rockets blasted in a number of towns along Israel’s border with Gaza about fifteen minutes after the ceasefire went into effect. No other information was provided.
Although it is impossible to independently ascertain the precise number of dead in the fighting, the truce came too late for many Israeli and Palestinian families.
“The last thing he said to me was that he was waiting for the truce on Friday,” Fida Zayed, a Gazan whose 20-year-old son Udai was killed in a recent air strike, told AFP.
“The living here are the ones who are dead.”
