 "People walk past an installation consisting of a clock counting the time hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas operatives have spent in captivity, set up on a square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, now informally called the \"Hostages Square\", in Tel Aviv. AFP")
The Gaza ceasefire which will bring an end to the war between Israel and Hamas will take effect at 6:30 GMT (12 noon IST) on Sunday, mediator Qatar said on Saturday.
“As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 am on Sunday, January 19, local time in Gaza,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on X.
The truce deal passed a major hurdle on Saturday after the Israeli cabinet voted in favour of the ceasefire, ending days of uncertainty about whether the truce would go into effect this weekend.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry also issued an advisory to Palestinians “to take precaution, exercise the utmost caution, and wait for directions from official sources.”
The Israeli Justice Ministry has announced that it would release 737 prisoners and detainees as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. The exact time of the ceasefire’s start had been unclear, though Israel had said no prisoners would be freed before 1400 GMT.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire will take effect on the eve of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Last year, Trump had warned that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not returned before his inauguration on January 20.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has completed preparations “to assume full responsibility in Gaza” after the war.
Even before the truce began, displaced Gazans were preparing to return home.
The ceasefire agreement followed intensified efforts by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt after months of fruitless negotiations.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn the days of talks, Biden pointman Brett McGurk was joined in the region by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff in an unusual pairing to get the deal over the line, US officials said.
“If we weren’t involved… the deal would’ve never happened,” Trump said in an interview Thursday.
With inputs agencies