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AND truce between Israel and Hamas was set to begin on Sunday morning, ending 15 months of brutal war in Gaza and paving the way for liberation hostages still held by a Palestinian militant group in the devastated enclave.
A six-week truce — the first phase of a multi-phase agreement that has been torn apart mediators led by the US last week after months of failed attempts to reach a deal — it was due to come into effect at 08:30 local time (0630 GMT).
If the truce holds, Hamas will release three of the 98 hostages it still holds in Gaza later on Sunday. In exchange, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners.
But in a sign of the deal’s fragility, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said just an hour before the deal was due to take effect that it would not begin unless Hamas provided Israel with the names of the hostages due to be freed on Sunday.
A few minutes later, Hamas said in a statement that it was committed to a ceasefire, and that the delay in providing the names was due to “technical reasons on the ground”.
The multi-phase agreement offers hope of stopping – and potentially ending – the bloodiest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has left Gaza in ruins, destroyed Israeli society and brought the Middle East to the brink of all-out war.
The fighting was sparked by Hamas’ shocking attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, during which the militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took another 250 hostages in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded with a devastating assault on Gaza, killing more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, as well as displacing most of the coastal enclave’s 2.3 million people and fueling a humanitarian disaster.
After more than half a year of failed attempts to mediate a cease-fire, mediators announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a three-phase deal, first floated by US President Joe Biden last May.
The first phase involves a six-week truce, during which Hamas will release a total of 33 hostages – including children, women, the sick and the elderly – in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
During the first phase of the deal, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, including the northern Gaza Strip. There will also be a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a massive influx of humanitarian aid to the enclave.
If the deal goes ahead as planned, by the 16th day of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin negotiating the details of the second phase of the deal, during which the remaining live hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent the end of the war.
The final phase will include the return of the remaining bodies of the dead hostages, as well as the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
However, questions remain over whether the deal will be implemented in full, and Netanyahu is under strong pressure from far-right members of his coalition to continue the war at the end of the first phase of the deal.
On Saturday night, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his Jewish Power party would quit the government in protest against the deal, reducing Netanyahu’s majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament to just two seats.
Ben-Gvir’s ultra-nationalist ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionist party from the government if the war did not resume after the first phase of the deal. If he did, it would deprive Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority.
