After 471 days of war, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, hours after the Israeli government received the list of hostages Hamas plans to release. Among the three hostages named for release are Emily Damari, a dual UK citizen, and Doron Steinbrecher, both of whom were taken from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Romi Gonen, 24, who was abducted from the Nova festival the same day, is also on the list.
The families of the three women confirmed they were set to be released later today under the terms of the ceasefire deal. Earlier, Hamas cited “technical reasons” for the delay in providing the names, a requirement of the agreement. The delay prompted Israel to postpone the truce initially scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and launch airstrikes on Gaza. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the strikes killed eight people.
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Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his far-right Otzma Yehudit party resigned from the governing coalition Sunday morning, following through on his earlier promise to leave if the ceasefire and hostage deal were approved. Ben-Gvir, along with Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, submitted their resignation letters to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “From this time onwards, the Otzma Yehudit party is not a member of the coalition,” the party stated.
In his resignation letter, Ben-Gvir praised his “significant achievements” under Netanyahu but condemned the ceasefire as a “surrender-to-terror deal.” Calling the agreement “a complete victory for terrorism,” Ben-Gvir declared that his party would not return to the coalition unless Israel achieves “a complete victory against Hamas and the full realization of the war’s goals.” This leaves Israel’s governing coalition, often called the furthest-right in the country’s history, with 62 members out of the 120-seat parliament.
This is a developing story…