EFE.- Qatar, a key mediator in the agreement between Israel and Hamas, announced this Saturday that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will come into force tomorrow, Sunday, at 8:30 a.m. in the Palestinian enclave (6:30 GMT) .
“As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 on Sunday, January 19, local Gaza time,” said the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al Ansari, in a message on X.
“We recommend residents take precautions, exercise maximum caution and wait for instructions from the authorities,” he added.
The Qatari authorities, who announced the achievement of the pact on Sunday, stated at the time that the ceasefire was going to come into force “on Sunday, January 19, at 12:15,” without specifying whether it was time to Gaza or Qatar.
The new announcement from Doha comes after the Israeli Government approved the agreement in the early hours of this Saturday.
In its first phase, which will last 42 days, Hamas will release a total of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release by the Jewish State of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and the green light will be given for the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel to the entire Gaza Strip and the rehabilitation of hospitals.
During the development of these actions, the parties will specify the details of a second and third phase.
The Qatari Prime Minister, Mohamed bin Abdulrahman, stated on Friday that the mediators and guarantors of the agreement “will try to ensure that everything agreed in the first phase is applied, and that an understanding can be reached on the second so that this is the final and put an end to the war.”
For their part, Egyptian security sources told EFE in Cairo that Egypt and its partners in achieving the ceasefire in Gaza have completed preparations for the implementation of the pact’s provisions, especially “the formation of a joint operations room for monitoring” its implementation.
This is the first agreement to cease hostilities between Israel and Hamas since the one-week truce in November 2023.
During just over 15 months of war in the Palestinian enclave, more than 47,800 people have died and nearly 90% of the Gazan population has been forced to leave their homes.
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