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After hours of delay, the Gaza ceasefire came into effect on Sunday after Hamas released the names of the first three Israeli hostages to be freed, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East. Israel said a truce with Hamas began in Gaza at 11:15 am local time (09:15 GMT and 2:45 pm IST), nearly three hours after initially scheduled, following a last-minute delay on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During the delay, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israel's military continued striking the Palestinian territory several people. The Israeli military also confirmed it was continuing "to strike within the Gaza area" following Netanyahu's directive.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks killed 13 Palestinians between 8:30 am local time--when the ceasefire was meant to begin, and 11:15 am-- when it actually took effect, Palestinian medics said.
Delay In Deal Implementation
In a statement issued less than an hour before the truce had been set to start, Netanyahu's office said he had "instructed the IDF (military) that the ceasefire... will not begin until Israel has received the list" of hostages to be freed.
Hamas, meanwhile, attributed the delay in sharing the list to "technical reasons", as well as the "complexities of the field situation and the continued bombing", ultimately publishing the names of three Israeli women to be released on Sunday nearly three hours after the deadline.
A Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters the delay occurred because mediators had asked for 48 hours of "calm" before the ceasefire's implementation, but continued Israeli strikes right up until the deadline had made it difficult to send the list.
Two hours after the deadline, Israel confirmed it had received the list and was "checking the details", before confirming shortly afterwards that the truce would begin at 11:15 am local time.
Hamas has reportedly named the hostages it was to release on Sunday as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.
ALSO READ: Gaza Ceasefire: List Of 33 Israeli Hostages Hamas Will Release In First Phase Of Deal
Israel-Hamas War
The ceasefire deal could help usher in an end to the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the tiny coastal territory, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people. Israel's response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians.
The war also set off a confrontation throughout the Middle East between Israel and its arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas and other anti-Israeli and anti-American paramilitary forces like Hezbollah.
The truce came after a three-phase deal struck by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt after months of negotiations, and takes effect on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as US president.
Its first stage will last six weeks, during which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages - women, children, men over 50, the ill and wounded - will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
They include 737 male, female and teenage prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza in detention since the start of the war.
The first three are female hostages expected to be released through the Red Cross on Sunday. In return for each, 30 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are to be released.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) where the meeting point will be inside Gaza and the ICRC is expected to begin driving to that location to collect the hostages, an official involved in the process told Reuters.