Israel readies to lay down its weapons for delicate ceasefire in Gaza as IDF warns ‘the war is not over yet’: World braces for the first 13 hostages to be FREED by Hamas – 49 DAYS after they were taken in October 7 terror attacks

The guns in Israel and Gaza will now fall silent as the long-awaited ceasefire is expected to come into effect and the release of hostages hopes to begin.

But smoke rose over Gaza as the deadline passed, and CNN’s correspondent in the Israeli town of Sderot, on the Gaza border, heard explosions from the enclave and what he said was the sound of artillery fire.

“We hear the sounds of war,” said Jeremy Diamond.

“And we won’t hear that again after the armistice.”

The ceasefire was agreed at 7 a.m. local time on Friday (midnight EST), and Israel immediately issued a statement calling on Palestinians in Gaza not to return to their homes in the north.

Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesman for Arab media, said: “The war is not over yet. The humanitarian pause is temporary. The northern Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move north.

‘For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south. It is only possible to travel from the north of the Strip to the south via Salah al-Din Road. Moving residents from the south of the Strip to the north is unauthorized and dangerous.”

The first tranche of 13 hostages would be released later on Friday, mediators in Qatar said.

There is no confirmation yet that the ceasefire has gone according to plan.

In the hours before the ceasefire was to take effect, Israel attacked a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, carried out airstrikes in northern Gaza and raided the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza.

Under the Israel-Hamas deal, the two sides agreed to a four-day ceasefire to allow the release of 50 women and children under the age of 19 who had been held hostage in Gaza.

In return, Israel would release 150 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli detention.

The 50 hostages, among about 240 taken by Hamas during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, are expected to be released in batches, probably about a dozen a day, during the four-day ceasefire.

The release will be coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the hostages are expected to be taken from Gaza at 4pm on Friday and transported through Egypt.

An operations room in Doha will monitor the ceasefire and the release of hostages, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.

The Doha command center has direct lines of communication with Israel, Hamas’s political office in Doha and the ICRC.

An agreement has been reached on the lists of all civilians who would be released from Gaza.

It is not publicly known who will be among them, but it is believed that three-year-old Abigail Mor Erdan, an American-Israeli orphan, will likely be released. She celebrates her fourth birthday on Friday.

Nine-year-old Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli citizen, could also be among them. Her father said he won’t believe she is free until he sees her with his own eyes.

Thirty children are currently believed to be among the 240 prisoners.

Joe Biden, asked Thursday if he thought she would be released, said he was hopeful.

Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN on Thursday evening that they were trying to stay positive.

“Like Biden, I think the Israelis are keeping their fingers crossed that this will indeed happen, and that we will see 13 Israelis return tomorrow,” he said.

“That’s our hope. But we have to wait and see. We know who we are dealing with. Hamas is a ruthless, ruthless terrorist organization and we must be prepared for unexpected events.”

The ceasefire and hostage standoff were expected to begin on Thursday. Regev said he could not discuss the delay.

The hostages come from many countries: the majority are Israeli and Thai, but about ten are from the United States and others from Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands and beyond.

Palestinian officials have provided a list of 300 people they want to release – most from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and detained for incidents including attempted stabbings, throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, making explosives, damaging property and having contacts with hostile organizations. . No one is charged with murder.

Many were held under administrative detention, meaning they were held without trial.

The released prisoners could first be bused to the Palestinian Authority’s presidential headquarters, as in previous releases, Reuters reported – even though Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had no role in these ceasefire negotiations, a Palestinian official said.

Those involved in the deal have described the cessation of hostilities as “a humanitarian pause.”

The pause will be extended by one day for each additional group of 10 hostages released, Israel said in a statement.

Hamas said Israel has agreed to suspend air traffic over northern Gaza from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day of the ceasefire and to stop all air traffic over the south for the entire period.

The group said Israel has agreed not to attack or arrest anyone in Gaza, and that people can move freely along Salah al-Din Street, the main road along which many Palestinians have fled northern Gaza, where Israel launched its ground invasion launched.

Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s chief negotiator and foreign minister at the State Department, said there would be “no attack of any kind” under the deal. No military moves, no expansion, nothing.”

If the hostages are released, aid will arrive in Gaza, where 2.3 million people are without food and many hospitals are partially closed because they have run out of fuel for their generators.

Hamas’ armed wing said Thursday that 200 aid trucks and four fuel trucks would enter Gaza daily.

The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 as a result of Israeli attacks now stands at 14,854, including 5,850 children, according to information from Hamas authorities in the strip.

Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7 when it stormed communities near the Gaza border.