Israel and Hamas have not started a ceasefire

Israel has not initiated a ceasefire with Hamas, which was supposed to take effect at 08:30 on January 19, because the country did not receive the names of the hostages who were supposed to be released today by the specified deadline.

This is reported by The Times of Israel.

Hamas stressed that they "reaffirm their commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement," and that the delay was due to "technical reasons". They said that the list of hostages had allegedly been sent on January 19 and that three hostages would be released today. They are Romy Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher. Israel has not yet commented on this statement.

The ceasefire agreement was supposed to come into effect at 08:30 today, but Israel continues to attack the Gaza Strip because Hamas has not provided lists of hostages and is thus allegedly violating the agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said earlier.

The Times of Israel writes that Hamas should have provided the names of the hostages at least 24 hours before their release, which was supposed to take place at approximately 4:30 p.m. today.

Gaza ceasefire agreement

On the evening of January 15, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. This was confirmed by the US President-elect Donald Trump. The move could ease tensions in the Middle East, where conflicts continue in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

The media reports that in the first phase, IDF will withdraw to within 700 meters of the Gaza Strip, Israel will release approximately 2 000 Palestinians, and Hamas will release 33 Israeli prisoners. Israel will allow the wounded in Gaza to move around the territory to receive medical care, and will open the Rafah crossing with Egypt. The IDF troops will begin to withdraw from the Philadelphia Corridor.

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