Hostage list received

Ceasefire comes into force after 3 hours delay

A man in the Gaza Strip waves the Palestinian flag to celebrate the ceasefire - too early, as was revealed on Sunday morning.(Bild: APA/AFP)

After a delay, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into force at 10.15 a.m. (CET) on Sunday. Previously, the deal between Israel and Hamas was postponed because the terrorist militia - as agreed in the negotiations - had not provided a list of the hostages who were to be released on Sunday.

"Hamas is not fulfilling its obligations," Israel's army spokesman explained the delay on Sunday morning. As long as Hamas does not fulfill the agreement, the Israeli army will continue to attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously demanded that Hamas hand over a list with the names of the hostages to be released by the deadline. He had instructed the armed forces that the ceasefire should not begin until Israel had received the list, his office announced. Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire and explained the delay with "technical reasons".

A man in the Gaza Strip waves the Palestinian flag to celebrate the ceasefire - too early, as was revealed on Sunday morning.(Bild: APA/AFP)

The ceasefire was due to come into force at 07:30 CET (08:30 local time). According to Israeli sources, three hostages were to be released from Hamas control in the afternoon - in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. A total of 33 hostages are to be released, including the Austrian-Israeli dual citizen Tal Shoham. In return, Israel will release 1904 imprisoned Palestinians.

Tal Shoham's relatives demand at a press conference: "Get him out of hell."(Bild: APA/AFP s)

In addition, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is to be reopened soon. The import of humanitarian aid for the Palestinians should also be significantly increased.

Hamas has not yet presented a list of hostage names
Shortly before the planned start of the ceasefire, however, there were new problems between the warring parties. According to Israeli sources, the Islamist Hamas has not yet presented a list of the names of the first three hostages who are due to be released on Sunday. "Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement," Netanyahu warned on Saturday. Without the list of names, Israel would not continue to implement the agreement.

Hamas sources said that the organization would submit the list with the names of the first three hostages in the coming hours. Nevertheless, Netanyahu threatened to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip in the event that the agreed ceasefire proves to be pointless. He has the backing of US President-elect Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden. "If we have to return to the fight, we will do so in a new, energetic way," Netanyahu said in a video address.

Body of soldier recovered during special operation
According to the Israeli army, the body of a soldier from the Gaza Strip who was killed in 2014 was successfully recovered during a special operation and returned home. The soldier was previously listed as one of the 98 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip. Israel originally sought to have him handed over as part of an agreement with Hamas.

However, he was not part of the first phase of the deal, which is due to begin on Sunday and last six weeks. The soldier might have been handed over to Israel in a later phase.

The soldier was killed in July 2014 during the Gaza war at the time. Since then, efforts have been made to recover his remains as well as those of another soldier killed in 2014.