Three women held in Gaza are set to be released on the first day of the ceasefire negotiated between the Islamist Hamas and Israel. The entry into force was initially a long time coming.
According to the government in Qatar, the three hostages expected to be released today include a British citizen and a Romanian citizen. All three also have Israeli citizenship, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said in a post on Platform X. With the transmission of the names of the three women, the ceasefire came into force, he confirmed. Qatar, like the USA and Egypt, is one of the mediating states.
Actually, the ceasefire should have come into force hours earlier. Because the list of hostages was forwarded to Israel later than expected, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the start. The Israeli armed forces initially continued their attacks. The agreement finally took effect at 10:15 CET. According to the Israeli government, the release of the first three hostages is scheduled for today at 3:00 p.m. CET.
Source: Stern

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