Truce expected to begin at 7am (0500 GMT), Qatar says
Jason Burke
A four-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will begin on Friday morning after negotiators worked out the final details of the deal, which will lead to the release of dozens of hostages held by militants as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, announced the ceasefire would start at 7am local time on Friday (0500 GMT).
He said the two sides had exchanged lists of those to be released, and the first group of hostages held by Hamas – 13 women and children – would be freed on Friday afternoon. Increased aid for Palestinians would start to enter “as soon as possible”, Ansari said.
The 150 Palestinian prisoners to be released are also women and children but it was not clear when they would be freed.
The diplomatic breakthrough promises the first pause in seven weeks of war in Gaza and some relief both for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the territory who have endured intensive Israeli bombardment, and for families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during the bloody attack launched last month by Hamas that triggered the conflict.
Reports in Israel suggest the hostages will be released across the Rafah border crossing into Egypt and then be brought to Israel by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent (ICRC).
Key events
Sirens sound in Israeli communities near Gaza border, Israeli military says
Sirens warning of potential incoming rockets have sounded in communities near the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military (IDF) has said in a Telegram post.
As we reported earlier it said sirens had sounded in a kibbutz near the Strip a couple of hours before the truce was due to come into effect. Fifteen minutes before the 7am start time it said sirens had also sounded in kibbutz Nir Oz.
Our correspondent Jason Burke has interviewed Dr Paul Ley, a French orthopaedic surgeon at the European hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where conditions are dire. Here’s an excerpt from his story:
Ley said the hardest thing for doctors was to make triage decisions. “We do our triage … [asking] are we going to take this patient because they will have a good chance of surviving rather than doing desperate measures on a patient who will die in two or three days? That sounds nice on paper, but when you have to make the decision it is different. There’s a 12-year-old with 90% burns so we won’t treat him except for pain control that is not enough,” he said.
“We try to keep our heads cool and steady, but for local staff this is their families, friends, their people. They never want to amputate. They say: ‘I can’t do it any more’ and so I say: ‘OK I will do it, don’t worry,’ and you can feel the relief”.
Ley said he had been shocked at how passive many patients were, such as one 35-year-old woman whose husband and children had been killed when the family’s home was destroyed, and who appeared unmoved when told both her legs would need to be amputated. “So many just don’t care any more,” he said.
The truce should now theoretically be in effect, as the clocks have struck 7 am in Israel and Gaza.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have reportedly continued overnight, with Al Jazeera reporting an attack on a residential building in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
A BBC reporter in Sderot in southern Israel also noted an Israeli airstrike, drones and the sound of small arms and mortar fire coming from Gaza with less than an hour to go before the truce is supposed to be implemented.
It’s now minutes before it is due to take effect.
Israeli forces raid Indonesian hospital, Al Jazeera reports
One woman has been killed and three others wounded after Israeli forces raided the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing Dr Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza.
Another three people were arrested at the hospital, which has been forced to cease operations. As of Thursday, there were an estimated 550 patients remaining at the hospital, as well as 200 medical workers and at least 1,500 displaced Palestinians sheltering at the hospital, according to Al Jazeera.
Dr Sarbini Abdul Murad, head of the Indonesian charity Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), which helped fund the hospital’s construction told Al Jazeera the attack on the medical facility overnight had caused extensive damage. Speaking from Jakarta, he said:
Last night, Israeli forces attacked the hospital with tanks and destroyed all of the first floor. The damage was very bad.
Previously, they had attacked the third floor. They arrested at least three people. This is their way of taking over the hospitals before the ceasefire today.
Israeli forces surrounded the Indonesian hospital with tanks earlier this week, with doctors reporting that staff and patients were terrified. Here’s an explainer written earlier this week on the situation at the hospital:
More Palestinian people, including women, were detained by Israeli forces as they tried to move south on Thursday compared to previous days, a monitoring team belonging to the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) has reported.
In its latest update on the conflict, OCHA said that the team had documented family accounts of women being detained for hours or even days before being released. There were also cases of unaccompanied children and separated families moving south.
Israeli forces have been arresting some people as they move down the main traffic artery between north and south, Salah Ad Deen road, which has been designated a “corridor” by Israel, which has been urging people to leave the north, OCHA reported. It added:
IDPs [internally displaced persons] interviewed by OCHA reported that Israeli forces had established an unstaffed checkpoint where people are directed from a distance to pass through two structures, where a surveillance system is thought to be installed.
IDPs are ordered to show their IDs and undergo what appears to be a facial recognition scan.
Israel continued its airstrikes on Thursday, with Palestinian Wafa news agency reporting that dozens were killed in Israeli bombing raids in Nuseirat and its camp in the central Gaza Strip, and in Jabaliya in the north. Jabaliya has been the scene of days of heavy fighting on the ground.
Among those reported killed in Nuseirat was a photojournalist, Mohammad Moin Ayyash, and his family.
Another resident, Hosni Moharib, bursting into tears, told the Associated Press news agency that his wife and several children were killed and other relatives remained buried under the rubble when an Israeli strike levelled a residential building in Nuseirat. He said:
It exploded on the house, striking the babies and young children. Everyone in the house, they are all dead.
Sirens warning of incoming rockets were activated in kibbutz Nir Am near Gaza this morning, the Israeli military has said on Telegram. No further information was immediately available.
The truce is due to come into effect in just under an hour and a half and we’ll be watching to see if it is observed by both sides.
Here are some of the latest images coming to us from Gaza:
Whole world ‘shocked’ at images coming from Gaza, Spanish PM tells Netanyahu
Sam Jones
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.
Sánchez’s blunt pleas came during a visit to the Middle East with the Belgian prime minister, Alexander de Croo, during which he called for a peace conference and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.
Speaking as he met Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday afternoon, Sánchez said Spain had repeatedly condemned Hamas’s “shocking acts of terrorism” and acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself.
But he added: “Let me also be clear: Israel must abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, in its response … The whole world is shocked at the images that we see coming from Gaza every day. The number of Palestinians killed is truly unbearable. I believe that all civilians must be protected at all costs.”
Sánchez said “a serious and credible prospect for peace” was more necessary than ever. “Without a political settlement, we are bound to run again into a never-ending cycle of violence.”
Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian in Gaza, has been keeping a diary for the Guardian. In case you missed the latest instalment, here’s an excerpt:
I am walking with Ahmad when we pass a bombed house. The house has collapsed and looks like a pile of giant Lego pieces. The surprising part is that there is one part of the house that is still perfectly fine – the kitchen and the room next to it on the second floor fell in one piece over the rubble. Even the kitchen sink is perfectly fine.
I stop for a while to look at the scene and think of the owners and how they would feel every time they pass by. I bet there have been a lot of happy moments in that kitchen, cooking meals for family gatherings, and maybe gossiping about what’s happening. The next room could be a playroom for the children or maybe a teenager lying on their bed thinking of their crush.
Then it hits me: did the residents of the house make it out alive? Or were they sleeping when it happened?
Read more below:
It is hoped the truce may offer Palestinians in Gaza some relief from the relentless bombardments they have endured over the past six weeks, which the Hamas government says have killed around 15,000 people.
For many families however, it comes too late. Fida Zayed, whose 20-year-old son Udai was killed in a recent air strike, told AFP:
The living here are the ones who are dead.
The last thing he [my son] said to me was that he was waiting for the truce on Friday. He asked me to prepare him a feast of rice and chicken.
I hope me and my children die here so we don’t have to mourn each other.
Truce expected to begin at 7am (0500 GMT), Qatar says
Jason Burke
A four-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will begin on Friday morning after negotiators worked out the final details of the deal, which will lead to the release of dozens of hostages held by militants as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, announced the ceasefire would start at 7am local time on Friday (0500 GMT).
He said the two sides had exchanged lists of those to be released, and the first group of hostages held by Hamas – 13 women and children – would be freed on Friday afternoon. Increased aid for Palestinians would start to enter “as soon as possible”, Ansari said.
The 150 Palestinian prisoners to be released are also women and children but it was not clear when they would be freed.
The diplomatic breakthrough promises the first pause in seven weeks of war in Gaza and some relief both for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the territory who have endured intensive Israeli bombardment, and for families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during the bloody attack launched last month by Hamas that triggered the conflict.
Reports in Israel suggest the hostages will be released across the Rafah border crossing into Egypt and then be brought to Israel by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent (ICRC).
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war with me, Helen Livingstone.
A four-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is expected to take effect at 7am local time (0500 GMT) with the release of the hostages expected to follow on Friday afternoon.
Israel and Hamas have exchanged lists of those to be released, with Hamas expected to free 13 women and children, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Ansari said. He did not specify how many Palestinian women and children will be released on Friday or when this would take place.
Israel has notified the families of the hostages set to be released on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. Joe Biden said he has his “fingers crossed” that a three-year-old Israeli-American girl will be released.
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A four-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will begin at 7am local time on Friday (0500 GMT), Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, has announced. The truce, initially lasting four or five days, was announced early on Wednesday and has raised hopes for a more durable pause in the violence.
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The release of hostages is expected to follow on Friday afternoon. Israel and Hamas have exchanged lists of those to be released, with Hamas expected to free 13 women and children, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Ansari said. He did not specify how many Palestinian women and children will be released on Friday or when this would take place. Israel has notified the families of the hostages set to be released on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. Joe Biden said he has his “fingers crossed” that a three-year-old Israeli-American girl will be released.
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Overall, Hamas has agreed to free at least 50 of the more than 240 mostly Israeli hostages it has held since launching bloody attacks into southern Israel on 7 October, under the terms of the agreement. In turn, Israel will release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow up to 300 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza after more than six weeks of bombardment, heavy fighting and a crippling blockade of fuel, food, medicine and other essentials.
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In a separate agreement, Hamas is set to unconditionally release 23 Thai hostages it is holding in Gaza, according to a report by the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news site. The release of Thai hostages came after Iran-mediated talks, the outlet reported on Thursday.
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A special flight has evacuated 103 Russian nationals from Gaza, Russia’s emergencies ministry said early on Friday. In a post on Telegram, the ministry said the group flew to Moscow aboard a chartered Ilyushin-76 aircraft, Reuters reported. The post said 101 Russian nationals had been taken from Gaza to Egypt in the past 24 hours, bringing to more than 750 the total number of Russian evacuees. More than 650 had been flown to Russia, including more than 300 children.
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The exchange of Palestinian and Israeli female and child hostages and prisoners had been due to take place on Thursday but was postponed as last-minute logistical issues were worked out. Sources close to the negotiations said Israel had presented a series of late requests for clarification of practical issues, and demanded the full identification of the hostages Hamas intended to release.
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The diplomatic breakthrough promises the first pause in seven weeks of war in Gaza and some relief both for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the territory who have endured intensive Israeli bombardment, and for families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones.
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Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has said the military will resume fighting against Hamas “with intensity” for at least two more months. Addressing Israeli troops on Thursday, Gallant instructed them to “organise…resupply arms, and get ready to continue” during the “short” respite in fighting.
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Israel’s army arrested the director of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital on Thursday, more than a week after it surrounded and raided the medical facility. Mohammad abu Salmiya and other medics were detained, a colleague said, amid reports that the IDF had seized them as they were travelling with a World Health Organization evacuation convoy. The IDF confirmed Abu Salmiya had been arrested and transferred to the Shin Bet domestic security service for further questioning. Just two doctors are left at al-Shifa to treat the remaining estimated 200 patients, the hospital’s head of plastic surgery has said.
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Israeli forces bombed at least 300 targets from the air, killing dozens of Palestinians. Gaza’s health ministry said 27 people were killed in a strike on a school affiliated with the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that dozens had been killed in Israeli bombing raids in Nuseirat and its camp in the central Gaza Strip, and in Jabaliya in the north. Among those reported killed in Nuseirat was a photojournalist, Mohammad Moin Ayyash, and his family.
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The IDF said it has killed the commander of Hamas’s naval forces in Khan Younis in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Amar Abu Jalalah was killed along with another member of the Hamas naval forces, the IDF said in a statement on Thursday.
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More than 13,000 Palestinians have been recorded killed in Gaza since the war began, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The director of the health ministry, which is run by the Hamas government, said another 6,000 people have been reported missing and are feared buried under the rubble. Israel’s assault on Gaza followed the Hamas attack on 7 October which killed at least 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
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UK foreign secretary David Cameron has met Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel, and expressed hope that the planned temporary truce with Hamas would be an “opportunity to crucially get hostages out and get aid into Gaza”. The Israeli prime minister told Cameron that the precondition for peace in the Middle East was the eradication of what he called the “genocidal terrorist cult” Hamas. His remarks gave the impression that Netanyahu is not currently interested in anything but a military solution to the future of Israel’s security.
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Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
