© via Portal/PALESTINE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY
The weapons must remain silent for four days. Shortly after the ceasefire came into effect, there was another missile alarm.
The Israeli army said it opened a complex of underground tunnels in the area on Friday Al-Shifa Hospital destroyed in Gaza City.
A video recording showed a loud explosion in a building complex. According to the army, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas misused the tunnel complex for terrorist purposes.
➤ See more information: A hospital as a protective shield for Hamas – is this possible?
At least one of the hospital’s multi-story buildings appeared to have been heavily damaged by the explosion, the video clip, which lasted just a few seconds, showed.
Despite strong international criticism, Israeli soldiers have been stationed in and around the clinic for days.
Numerous patients, including 31 premature babies, were evacuated from the embattled hospital several days after the operation began. According to the UN emergency relief office, as of Friday morning, around 250 patients and staff were reportedly in the hospital.
The Israeli military allowed foreign journalists access to underground facilities before the destruction of the Shifa Clinic tunnel complex. Images and videos showed a narrow tunnel and several rooms, including a room with two beds, bathrooms and a small kitchen. According to information, the tunnel was ten meters deep and 55 meters long. According to the military, weapons were also found in the hospital.
Hamas has denied that it is using medical facilities for military purposes. The US government supported the Israeli narrative that Hamas used Shifa hospital as a command center and weapons depot.
Ceasefire in effect
A ceasefire agreed between Israel and Islamic Hamas came into force this morning. It started at 6am CET and is expected to last at least four days.
An extension of up to ten days is possible, as announced by the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, which is mediating the conflict.
➤ Read more: Ceasefire in Gaza on Friday from 6am CET
However, shortly after the ceasefire came into force, there was another missile alarm. The Israeli army said warning sirens sounded in communities across the Gaza Strip. In previous wars in Gaza, there were repeated violations of ceasefires by both sides at the beginning.
Hundreds of Palestinians want to go to northern Gaza
According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of internally displaced Palestinians began returning to their homes after the ceasefire began.
People in Gaza City and other parts of the northern Gaza Strip wanted to check on their homes or apartments and their family members, it was said on Friday morning.
However, the Israeli military warned that it was prohibited to move from the south to the north of the coastal area. The north of the Gaza Strip remains a “dangerous war zone” and movement there and back is prohibited. The Palestinians were to remain in a “humanitarian zone” in the south of the coastal strip.
However, it is still possible for civilians to move from the north to the south. Israeli television reported that “demonstration dispersal means” should be used, if necessary, to stop people from coming from the south to the north.
Hostage exchange
At 15:00 CET, the first 13 hostages held in the Gaza Strip will be released as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas. They are women and children. In exchange, three Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons for each hostage.
A total of 50 hostages, women and young people under 19, will be released within four days. The ceasefire also aims to enable larger and urgently needed aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip.
➤ Read more: Children and young people: What is known about the Hamas hostages
First aid deliveries from Egypt
According to eyewitness accounts, the first aid deliveries were brought from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived through the Rafah border crossing, in the south of the coastal strip.
Two vehicles belonging to Egyptian organizations carried banners reading “Together for humanity” and another reading “For our brothers in Gaza”, TV footage from the Portal news agency showed.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, UNRWA, wants to take advantage of the lull in fighting to distribute urgently needed aid to the civilian population in need. A total of around 200 trucks with humanitarian aid supplies and four trucks with fuel will be brought into the Gaza Strip on Friday – significantly more than recently per day.
Missile alert
The fight continued until the end. There were rocket alarms in the Israeli border area shortly before the ceasefire began. The Israeli army had already intensified attacks in the Gaza Strip and will keep its soldiers stationed in the Gaza Strip during the lull in the fighting.
The UN emergency relief office said on Friday morning that Israel had intensified air, land and sea strikes.
Hamas mastermind killed
The Israeli military claims to have managed to kill Amar Abu Jalalah and another Hamas agent during an operation.
Amar Abu Jalalah was a senior operative in Hamas’ naval forces and was reportedly involved in directing several terrorist attacks by sea.
Israel plans new measures during ceasefire
The Israeli military will use lulls in fighting to plan the next phases of fighting.
According to the Israeli military, after the intensive fighting temporarily ends, there will continue to be many operations in the Gaza Strip until there is no longer a military threat from there.
➤ See more information: An expert explains how to negotiate with Hamas
“Control of the northern half of the Gaza Strip is the first step in a long war,” said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari at a press conference shortly before the start of the agreed pause in fighting. be in the “We will focus on planning and executing the next stages of the war in the coming days.”
“It will be complicated days and nothing is certain,” said Hagari.
The Israeli Defense Minister also said that after the announced ceasefire, the Israeli army will continue intense fighting in the Gaza Strip for at least another two months.
Soldiers are expected to organize, resupply weapons and prepare for upcoming fighting during the brief ceasefire, which the mediating state of Qatar said would come into force on Friday morning, it said. Joav Gallant according to Israeli media on Thursday night.
After the “brief pause”, the army will continue to exert pressure to bring more hostages held in the Gaza Strip back to Israel.
12-year-old boy shot in the chest
Meanwhile, according to Palestinian sources, a 12-year-old child was killed in a clash with the Israeli army in the West Bank. The Ramallah Health Ministry said the boy was shot in the chest on Thursday night.
The Israeli army carried out an attack on the city of Beita, south of Nablus. The child was initially taken to hospital and later died from serious injuries, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
15,000 Palestinians killed
According to Hamas, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to almost 15,000 since the start of the war almost seven weeks ago. More than 36,000 people were injured, the press office of the Islamist government in Gaza reported on Thursday night.
➤ Find out more about current developments in Israel in our live ticker
Most of them are children, young people and women. Thousands of people are still missing. Currently, the numbers cannot be independently verified.
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