Mediator Qatar confirms Gaza ceasefire begins

Mediator Qatar on Sunday confirmed the start of a truce between Israel and Hamas and said some of the initial three hostages to be freed hold foreign citizenship.

“We confirm that the names of the three hostages who will be released today have been handed over to the Israeli side. They are three Israeli citizens, one of whom holds Romanian citizenship and the other British citizenship. Thus, the ceasefire has begun,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.

Israel said a Gaza ceasefire it agreed with Hamas would go into effect at 0915 GMT Sunday, after confirming it had received a list of hostages to be freed.

“According to the plan for the release of the hostages, the ceasefire for phase one in Gaza will come into effect at 11:15 (local time),” a statement from the prime minister’s office said. The truce was initially scheduled to begin at 0630 GMT.

Israel has received a list of three hostages to be released by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, the prime minister’s office stated.

“Israel has received the list of hostages that are supposed to be released today”, the statement said, adding the “security establishment is currently checking the details”. Israel earlier said the ceasefire would be delayed until it received the list.

Hamas’s armed wing on Sunday released the names of three Israeli women hostages to be freed on Sunday as part of a ceasefire deal which has still not come into effect.

“As part of the… prisoner swap deal, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, decided to release the following Israeli prisoners today,” the group said in a statement, giving the names of the women after Israel said the truce, scheduled to begin at 0630 GMT, would not start until Israel received the list of those to be freed.