Israel-Palestine live: Israel says 39 more Palestinians freed under truce deal
Live Updates
Good morning MEE readers. It has been two hours since a temporary four-day truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect in Gaza, and Palestinians displaced in the south have quickly packed their belongings to make their way north and return to their homes, despite whether they may or may not be destroyed.
So far, the truce appears to be holding with no signs of Israeli air strikes or exchanges of fire. Aid and fuel trucks have begun entering Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
If you're just tuning into the news, here's what you need to catch yourself up on:
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The truce deal between Israel and Hamas will see the armed Palestinian group release 50 captives to Israel, in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinians in Israeli jails. CNN reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that 39 Palestinians, mostly women and children, would be released on Friday.
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Just prior to the truce, Gaza witnessed some of the most intense bombings since the war broke out on 7 October. Israel also stormed Indonesia Hospital, killing one woman, while also injuring and arresting several others.
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A Palestinian journalist and her family were killed in Israeli bombardment in the north.
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An Israeli minister is threatening Haaretz with different penalties, accusing the newspaper of its critical coverage of Israel's military operation in Gaza.
After the temporary pause in fighting went into effect on Friday morning, many Palestinians appeared to have relief fill their faces.
However, with the truce only being four days as it stands, and with the opportunity to now process the aftermath of Israel's devastating bombing campaign, many of Gaza's residents had intense anxiety in their eyes.
"The scenes I am seeing right now are very painful. This is severe destruction and a severe genocide. Take a look... Nuseirat was once a safe haven, However now, unfortunately, destruction is everywhere, corpses are everywhere, killing is everywhere," a resident of the Nuseirat refugee camp, who said he was one of the area's representatives, told Al Jazeera Arabic.
The resident added that he was skeptical that the aid now able to enter Gaza would be enough to meet the enclave's needs.
"The entire Ummah let down Gaza, one glass of water we can't get into Gaza," the man said, referring to the global Muslim community.
Within less than one hour of the truce going into effect, Palestinian news outlets are reporting that fuel trucks are beginning to enter Gaza from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Egypt said that 130,000 litres of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza once the pause in fighting begins, in addition to the daily delivery of 200 aid trucks.
Displaced Palestinians who have been sheltering for weeks at UN schools and hospitals in southern Gaza started leaving to return to their homes, or what is left of them, after the truce went into effect on Friday morning.
"One man said, 'I want to go home and even if it is destroyed, I want to stay there. I want to die there'," Al Jazeera Arabic reporter Wael Dahdouh told the news agency.
According to Haaretz, an Israeli military spokesperson is warning residents of Gaza not to move back into northern Gaza.
The time in Gaza is now just past 7 am, meaning that the start of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas has begun.
The pause in fighting comes after a one-day delay and will see captives held in Gaza be released in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons.
In the last few hours before the truce went into effect, Israeli bombardment of Gaza intensified to some of its highest levels since 7 October. One such strike killed at least 27 people in a UN school.
So far, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting no signs of firing or air strikes since the truce began.
As we at MEE continue monitoring the halt in fighting, here are some stories you can read about the truce:
An unnamed Israeli official told CNN that a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released Friday as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas.
The prisoners, which are made up of women and children, will be taken from two jails, Damon and Megiddo, and driven to the Ofer prison, located south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. There they will receive final checks by the Red Cross.
The Israeli army on Friday morning stormed the Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza, killing one woman and injuring several others, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israeli forces also arrested three people. The hospital has been under Israeli siege for days now, and Israel called on it to be evacuated on Thursday when it still had hundreds of injured Palestinians there either receiving treatment or sheltering.
The news comes just a few hours before a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas is supposed to take place.
Amal Zuhd, a Palestinian journalist, was killed along with her family in an Israeli bombing that targeted her home in Gaza City early on Friday, several Palestinian news outlets reported.
Her death brings the total number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since the beginning of Israel's bombardment of the enclave to 64.
On Thursday, photojournalist Muhammad Ayyash and several of his relatives were killed by Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The killing of Zuhd comes just hours before a temporary truce is set to begin between Israel and Hamas.
Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has attacked the Haaretz newspaper over its critical coverage of the military's war in Gaza, and proposed that it be penalised.
Karhi said on X that the newspaper was "sabotaging Israel in wartime" and it was serving as an "inflammatory mouthpiece for Israel’s enemies".
In a letter sent to Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, Karhi said some of the newspaper's publishing "even cross the criminal standard set in those far-flung sections of the penal code reserved for wartime only".
The proposed penalty includes banning Haaretz from publishing government notices and immediately halting any payments to Haaretz from any state entity that advertises with the news outlet.
Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken responded to the proposal, saying: “If the government wants to close Haaretz, that’s the time to read Haaretz.”
A special flight evacuated 103 Russian nationals from Gaza, Russia's emergencies ministry said early on Friday.
The ministry said in a post on Telegram that the flight evacuating Russian nationals out of Gaza and to Egypt brings the total number of Russian evacuees to 750. More than 650 have been flown to Russia, including more than 300 children.
A pro-Palestine sit-in protest at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this month has sparked a slew of accusations of antisemitism and violence from a pro-Israel group, coupled with a concerted effort to permanently ban a student group calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA), at the centre of organising around ending Israel's occupation of Palestine, has become a target. But despite this campaign, students remain undeterred to continue their advocacy.
"There's a strong sense among the organisers within the CAA and within the broader coalition that we will be continuing to push forward and won't be swayed by any of these intimidation tactics that have been levied by the administration," Safiyyah Ogundipe, president of MIT's CAA, told MEE.
To read the full story, click below.
MIT students undeterred by looming suspension over pro-Palestine rally
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said it will continue to fight in Gaza "with intensity" for at least two months once the four-day temporary pause ends, according to Israeli media reports.
Gallant, as quoted by the Times of Israel addressing troops of the Israeli navy troops on Thursday said: "What you will see in the coming days is first the release of hostages. This respite will be short."
"At least another two months of fighting is expected," he said, adding that Israel needs "to complete the victory".
Gallant's remarks were also reported by Israel's i24 News.
Egypt said that 130,000 litres of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza when a temporary four-day pause in fighting starts on Friday.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), also said in a statement early on Friday that 200 trucks of aid would enter Gaza daily.
