The cease-fire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is set to go into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, Qatari officials announced Saturday.
The Israeli military confirmed the start time and said its troops will “implement the operational procedures in the field in accordance with the set agreements.”
“The IDF has been preparing to receive the hostages after their release from Hamas captivity and is operating to provide suitable physical and psychological support, with careful attention to every detail,” the military said.
The cease-fire plan, which will see Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners as well as a pause in fighting in the 15-month war, was approved by Israel’s cabinet early Saturday morning, following hours of intense deliberations. The deal was then inked by Israel’s national security advisor.
The first phase of the three-stage cease-fire deal, which will encompass a six-week pause in fighting, will see 33 Israeli hostages exchanged for the release of nearly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli captives who are set to be released during the first phase, alive or dead, include women, children, and men over 50.
According to the deal Israeli leaders greenlit Saturday, the first hostage exchange will begin at 4 p.m. local time, where three female hostages are expected to be released, followed by another four captives released a week later, and the remaining 26 freed over a five-week period.
During each swap, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners after the hostages have arrived home safe.
Also during the first phase, Israeli troops are to pull back to a buffer zone in Gaza near the border with the Jewish state, while trucks carrying much-needed humanitarian aid including food and medical supplies are to flood the decimated territory.
Despite the imminent armistice between Israel and Hamas, the Jewish state fended off a missile attack fired from Yemen Saturday. The Iran-backed Houthi terror group claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said had targeted the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
“The missile hit its target with high accuracy, thanks be to Allah,” a Houthi spokesman said.
The IDF said the projectiles were intercepted by its air defense systems.
Israel, meanwhile, continued to bombard the Palestinian enclave Saturday, with tanks shelling in Gaza City while fighter jets blasted central and southern Gaza. At least 123 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops since news of the cease-fire deal broke Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service.
Hamas sparked the bloody war after launching a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with the terror group and its allies killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 captive. An estimated 97 hostages remain, with an estimated 60 believed to be alive.
Israel responded to the deadliest attack in the nation’s history with a ground offensive in Gaza, bombarding the enclave and killing over 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilian and military deaths.
On Saturday, the US also announced that it would donate $117 million for security assistance to Lebanon as Beirut seeks to implement the tenuous cease-fire agreement announced in November between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.
The assistance to the war-rattled nation will help Lebanon’s armed forces and security forces “as they work to assert Lebanese sovereignty across the country,” a US State Department spokesperson said.
With Post wires
