The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will take effect on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT), the Qatari mediator announced on Saturday. people. groups rushed to establish mass support.

The one-night approval of the agreement by the Israeli cabinet, at an unusual meeting on the Jewish Sabbath, caused chaos and new emotions as relatives wondered whether the hostages would return alive or dead. The names of the first hostages to be released are expected to be released next Saturday.

The 15-month ceasefire is a step toward ending the fierce, destructive war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group – and it comes a year after another ceasefire.

The first phase of the ceasefire will last 42 days, and negotiations for the second, more difficult phase are due to begin two weeks later.

Israeli airstrikes continued on Saturday, and Gaza’s Health Ministry said 23 bodies had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

“What kills us hours before it starts?” asked Abdallah Al-Aqad, the brother of a woman who was killed by an airplane south of the city of Khan Younis. Health officials said the couple and their two children, ages 2 and 7, died.

And sirens were heard in the central and southern part of Israel, the army said that they received the shells that came from Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels there have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, calling it an alliance with the Palestinians in Gaza.

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In X’s letter, Qatar’s foreign ministry advised Palestinians and others to be cautious when the ceasefire goes into effect and wait for instructions from the authorities.

“The first thing I would do is go see my house,” said Mohamed Mahdi, a displaced father of two in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City. He is also hoping to see family in southern Gaza, but “is worried that one of us will be martyred before we meet.”

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Palestinian supporters around the world celebrate as Netanyahu says a ceasefire deal has been reached

In the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 people held in Gaza are to be released for six weeks in exchange for 737 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Ministry of Justice in Israel has released a list of prisoners, minors or women.

According to the ceasefire plan approved by the Israeli cabinet, the exchange will begin at 4pm (1400 GMT) on Sunday. The plan states that three surviving females will be returned on Day 1, four on Day 7 and the remaining 26 over the next five weeks. In each exchange, the Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel after the hostages are safely delivered.

Also released are 1,167 Gazans who did not join the Oct. 7, 2023, an attack led by Hamas that started the war. All women and children under the age of 19 from Gaza held by Israel will be released at this time.

All Palestinian prisoners found guilty of murder will be deported from Gaza or abroad – some for three years and others forever – and barred from returning to Israel or the West Bank.

The remaining prisoners in Gaza, including male soldiers, will be released in a second phase that is subject to initial negotiations. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a long-term ceasefire and complete withdrawal from Israel.

Also in the first phase of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have withdrawn to an area one kilometer (0.6 miles) inside Gaza, along its border with Israel.

This will allow many displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, including Gaza City and the remote and devastated northern Gaza Strip. With many Gazans living in large, squalid camps, Palestinians are desperate to return home, even though many have been destroyed or badly damaged.

Gaza should also see an increase in food, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid. Vehicles were at a standstill on Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

On Saturday, two ministers of the Egyptian government arrived in the northern Sinai Peninsula to oversee the preparations for the delivery of aid through the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing, and receive the evacuation of injured patients, the Egyptian Ministry of Health said.

The cease-fire plan approved by the Israeli cabinet stipulates that all vehicles entering Gaza will be subject to Israeli surveillance.

The Hamas attack on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people and left another 250 captives. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza.

Israel responded with a massacre that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and terrorists but say women and children make up more than half of the dead.

& copy 2025 The Canadian Press