After 15 months of war, the battle begins to keep peace

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is expected to come into effect at 8.30am local time today, seeing the release dozens of hostages held in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

- BEL TREW

The long-fought-for deal, divided into three phases of 42 days each, was approved by the Israeli cabinet with a majority of 24 ministers in favour and eight against in the early hours of yesterday morning. Many hope it will bring an end to the devastating 15-month conflict, which has claimed the lives of over 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and more than 1,000 Israelis.

However, sources close to the negotiations, along with families of hostages whose loved ones are not on the initial release list, have expressed concern that while the first stage may succeed, the second and third phases are not guaranteed.

Far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition consider it only a temporary ceasefire and have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions. What should we expect in the coming days?

Hostage releases

According to the plan, while the ceasefire will begin at 8.30am today, the actual exchange will start at 4pm, with hostages being released and then Palestinian prisoners.

In the first phase, 33 hostages taken from Israel – the youngest, women including five Israeli soldiers, the elderly, and the sick – are expected to be released. Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on day 1 of the deal, four on day 7, and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.

However, the fate of some of these hostages remains uncertain, as Israeli media has reported that as many as eight of the 33 may be dead. Among the leaked lists of those due to be released is British-Israeli citizen Emily Damari, 28, who was seized from kibbutz Kfar Aza. According to her mother she was shot and suffered shrapnel wounds when she was taken.