Israel Announces Ceasefire Implemented with Several Hours Delay

Israel announced that the Gaza ceasefire would go into effect on Sunday at 9:15 GMT after confirming receipt of a list of hostages to be released. The Prime Minister's Office stated: "According to the hostage release plan, the first phase of the ceasefire will be implemented at 11:15 (local time)." Initially, this ceasefire was supposed to start at 6:30 GMT. The delay in Hamas providing the names of the hostages who were to be released today had suspended the implementation of this agreement. An hour earlier, the Times of Israel reported, citing Palestinian media, that a senior Hamas official stated that the group, recognized as a terrorist organization by many countries, had sent the required list of hostages to be released today to Israel. An Israeli official also told the public network "Kan" that Hamas had provided the names of three women to the mediators. According to reports, Hamas announced that "Romi Gonen," "Emily Damari," and "Doron Steinberger" are the three hostages to be released today. This several-hour delay by Hamas in providing the required list caused a delay in the implementation of the ceasefire, and following this delay and the Israeli Prime Minister's order, the Israeli army also announced that Hamas was not adhering to the ceasefire agreement and that military operations in Gaza would continue. Earlier today, before the news of the list being sent by Hamas was released, the Israeli army announced that it had conducted artillery shelling and several drone strikes against Hamas targets in northern and central Gaza, as the ceasefire had not yet been implemented. The statement read: "The Israeli Defense Forces continue operations and attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip." Minutes after these reports were released, AFP reported that a Hamas official announced on Sunday, January 30, that the list of hostages to be released under the ceasefire agreement with Israel could be provided "at any moment," but the existing "complexities" in Gaza and Israeli bombardments had caused delays. These remarks were made by an official involved in the ceasefire negotiations based in Doha. Israel stated that this delay was due to Hamas's failure to provide the list. The Times of Israel writes that the implementation of the ceasefire was delayed because Hamas did not comply with the terms of the agreement and failed to provide the names of the three female hostages who were supposed to be released today. Meanwhile, another report indicated that the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in 2014, had been recovered from Gaza. The ceasefire was supposed to be implemented from 8:30 AM, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this morning that the agreement would not be implemented unless the terrorist group Hamas adhered to the terms of the agreement and provided the names of the three female hostages. According to the terms of this agreement, Hamas was required to announce the names of the hostages at least 24 hours before their release. It is expected that these three women will be released around 4:30 PM today, but Hamas had not yet confirmed which three of the 97 hostages would be released and attributed the delay to "technical reasons." In exchange for the release of about 100 of its hostages, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners. Netanyahu: The ceasefire will not begin until the list of hostages is announced by Hamas. Netanyahu reiterated the commitment to destroy Hamas and return all hostages.