Thirteen women and children on one side, 39 women and young people on the other: these are the figures for the first hostage exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners, which should take place this Friday, so there is no longer any burden -minute delay like the day before. Until the weapons were temporarily disabled, the Israeli army continued to bomb targets, including in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing fourteen people in Rafah alone. The Defense Minister has warned that the war will last at least another two months.

Those hoping that the ceasefire can last longer will be disappointed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already repeated this, but this time it was up to Yoav Gallant to elaborate on the war plans. Visiting a Navy special operations unit, the Defense Secretary classified the following days as a “short break.” “Ultimately, the fighting will continue and we will apply pressure to release more hostages. At least two more months of fighting are expected,” he said on the 48th day of the war.

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said his side is planning next steps, but warned: “Hamas will try to use the days of the agreement to spread fear, disinformation and psychological terror. end of the process, but the beginning.”

The terms of the ceasefire, which is expected to last at least four days, were confirmed by Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Qatar and Egypt. From 7 a.m. local time (5 a.m. in mainland Portugal), the armed violence ceases and at 4 p.m. the first 13 of at least 50 hostages are released. 39 Palestinians will leave three prisons for the West Bank and East Jerusalem at 6 p.m.

An Israeli demand that will have delayed the start of the ceasefire (as well as coordination with the Red Cross), the list of hostages to be released was made known to Tel Aviv, which informed the relatives in the meantime, but did not make it public .

Asked to reveal details about those who will be returned to freedom, the President of the United States said he could not go into details until the operation was completed, but always said he was “keeping his fingers crossed” that a three-year-old An old girl of North American nationality, an American, whose parents were killed in the October 7 terrorist attack, is among the 13. In an earlier statement, Joe Biden had said that the release of two American women is also expected.

As for the minimum number of Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons, 150, this corresponds to half of those detained in the West Bank in recent hours (a total of 3,130 since October 7). According to the average Israelis, the majority live in East Jerusalem. Some are as young as 14 and have been charged with crimes ranging from ‘throwing stones’, ‘supporting terrorism’ or ‘attempted murder’.

At the same time, 200 trucks of humanitarian aid and four of fuel will arrive each day of the break in the conflict. Before October 7, the average daily number of heavy vehicles entering the area was 500. In addition, according to the al-Qassam Brigades, the Israeli army commits not to fly over the southern Gaza Strip during this period, nor in the Gaza Strip for six hours a day . city ​​of Gaza and the north of the enclave.

There are more dead than freed people

Tel Aviv’s armed forces have spared no effort in recent hours. On Wednesday they said they attacked 300 Hamas positions, and on Thursday they resumed bombing the area from north to south. In Rafah, the town next to the border crossing with Egypt, fourteen people were killed in several bomb attacks, according to hospital director Abu Youssef Al-Najjar.

On the other hand, in Jabalia, an Israeli attack killed 27 refugees sheltering in a UN school, the Gaza health authority said. When these deaths are added to those reported by Wafa news agency (ten in Sheikh Radwan, northern Gaza, and five in Khan Younis), the number of fatalities among the population just the day before the ceasefire exceeded the number of the people being released this Friday.

The Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which announced its adherence to the ceasefire, also took advantage of the past hours to increase the level of war activity. According to the Shiite organization, 20 attacks were launched causing casualties in northern Israel, and in one attack alone they launched 48 Katyusha rockets against an Israeli military base. On the Tel Aviv side, 35 rockets were counted and it was said that the majority were intercepted by air defenses. The attack was the largest to come from Lebanon since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, and in response helicopters and fighter jets attacked Hezbollah’s “terrorist infrastructure” as well as rocket launch sites.

The violence in southern Lebanon has already led to the displacement of 26,000 people and the deaths of 109 people, the majority of whom are Hezbollah fighters. The dead included the son of a Hezbollah deputy, Mohamed Raad, along with four other people, two of whom were leaders of Hezbollah’s elite Al-Radwan force, AFP reported. Nine people were killed on the Israeli side.

Netanyahu listens to Sánchez’s criticism

On the same day, the heads of government of Belgium and Spain and the new Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom met with the president and the leader of the Israeli emergency government. While David Cameron only heard expressions of support for Israel, Alexander De Croo and Pedro Sánchez simultaneously shared support and critical words during a joint visit. “May this not be a missed opportunity to take a step towards peace,” the Belgian leader said of the ceasefire.

After Netanyahu showed visitors images of the terror committed during the October 7 attacks, the Spaniard recalled that his country was also living with terrorism but managed to turn the page on ETA. “I am convinced that terrorism cannot be eradicated by the use of force alone,” said Sánchez, who lamented the Israeli response in Gaza: “The number of Palestinians killed is truly unbearable. A clear distinction must be made between military objectives and the protection of civilians.”

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