Four-day pause in Israel’s war against Palestine begins

Palestinian Territories – AFP

A four-day pause in Israel’s war against Palestine took effect at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Friday.

The truce agreement, negotiated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, brought the first pause in a seven-week-old war during which Israel has killed more than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them children and women.

The agreement entailed a “complete ceasefire with no attacks from the air or the ground” and the skies clear of drones to “allow for the hostage release to happen in a safe environment”, the Qatari foreign ministry said.

Over the four days of the ceasefire, at least 50 hostages are expected to be freed, leaving an estimated 190 in the hands of Palestinian fighters.

In exchange, 150 Palestinians prisoners are expected to be released.

The agreement is also intended to provide additional aid to 2.4 million residents who face starvation after Israel tightened a siege of the territory.

Around 50 trucks with food aid, along with three fuel trucks and four with gas, entered on Friday morning, said Wael Abu Omar, director of communications on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing point with Egypt.