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Israel and Hamas initiate prisoner exchange as official ceasefire begins today. All details

Oleksiy LutykovWorld
Hamas delayed the exchange of hostages

On the morning of January 19, the Israeli Defense Forces started withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip as part of a ceasefire and hostage exchange. Israel and Hamas also plan to release prisoners under previous agreements.

According to preliminary reports, Israeli forces have begun withdrawing from Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. The IDF claimed that Hamas terrorists did not fulfill the terms of the agreement, so Israeli forces continued to strike at targets in Gaza. Later it became known that the parties had reached an agreement. This was reported by The Times of Israel.

According to local correspondents, Israeli troops began withdrawing from Gaza on the morning of January 19. At the same time, local media are allegedly publishing footage of the withdrawal of units of the 84th Givati Brigade from the IDF's 162nd Armored Division.

Israeli media report that Hamas has not sent a list of hostages to be released even after the scheduled time for the ceasefire has passed.

The Times of Israel states that the ceasefire agreement was supposed to come into effect at 8:30 am, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that it would not be implemented unless the Hamas terrorist group fulfills the agreed conditions and publishes the names of three civilian women. Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas had to provide the names of the hostages no later than 24 hours before their release. However, the terrorist group has not yet confirmed which three of the 97 hostages are to be released, claiming that the delay in handing over the names is due to "technical reasons."

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari issued a statement and said that as of the morning of January 19, Israeli troops continue to operate in the Gaza Strip. According to him, Hamas is not fulfilling its obligations and, contrary to the agreement, has not provided Israel with the names of the hostages who were to be released. Hagari emphasized that according to the Prime Minister's order, the ceasefire will not take effect until Hamas fulfills its obligations.

"The IDF continues to operate and attack terrorist targets in Gaza. A short time ago, several terrorist targets in the northern and central Gaza Strip were attacked with artillery fire and aircraft. IDF remains ready in defense and offense and will not allow any harm to the citizens of Israel," the Israeli army said in a statement.

Some time later, the Israeli authorities confirmed that Hamas had handed over the names of three hostages to be released under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. The release will begin after 4 p.m. local time, and 90 Palestinian prisoners will be released from jail upon the hostages' arrival in Israel. There was a delay of more than half a day in the transfer of the names, but now that the list has been received, the ceasefire has officially entered into force.

The Hamas terrorist group announced in a statement that it would release hostages Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. The three civilian women were taken hostage during a Hamas October 7 attack in 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted to Gaza.

The Office of the Prime Minister of Israel confirmed that it had received a list of hostages to be released. They also noted that the security services are currently checking the details. Hostage return coordinator Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch informed the hostages' families through IDF representatives.

It is worth noting that not all representatives of the Israeli government supported the agreement with Palestinian terrorists. In particular, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned in protest against the deal with Hamas.

Later it became known that the Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu and the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf bowed out as well.

Earlier, it was reported that representatives of the Hamas terrorist group agreed to a draft agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages. The Israeli representative said at the time that there was progress, but details were still being finalized.

On January 12, it was reported that President-elect Donald Trump sent his Middle East envoy to Israel to negotiate a hostage release and ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

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