Implementation of cease-fire deal delayed

Truck drivers of humanitarian supplies hope truce ends long wait to enter Gaza

GAZA — With the implementation of a truce in the Gaza Strip between Israeli forces and Hamas delayed due to "last minute "details over which hostages would be released and how, humanitarian aid truck drivers continue to wait for more fuel and other essentials to be allowed into the area.

A Palestinian official told AFP on Thursday that the truce, widely expected to go into force on Thursday but delayed during the night, had been put back over "the names of the Israeli hostages and the modalities of their release", said the official, who has knowledge of the negotiation process.

Lists of those to be freed had been exchanged by both sides, he added. Questions were also being raised over Red Cross access to the hostages before they would be released into Egypt, he said, and whether the Red Cross would have access to those who remained.

Israel and Hamas agreed early on Wednesday to a cease-fire in Gaza for at least four days, to let in humanitarian aid and free at least 50 hostages held by militants in the enclave in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel.

The starting time of the truce and release of hostages captured by Hamas during its Oct 7 attack on Israel has yet to be officially announced. An Egyptian security source said mediators had sought a start time of 10 am on Thursday.

"The negotiations on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly," Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement. "The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday," it said.

White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson said final logistical details for the release were being worked out. "That is on track and we are hopeful that implementation will begin on Friday morning," Watson said.

Political prospects

On Wednesday, China's top envoy to the United Nations called on international communities to increase efforts in advancing the political prospects of the two-state solution to the Palestinian question.

Any solution to the current situation must not deviate from the two-state solution and should be conducive to regional peace and stability, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

"Any arrangement on the future and destiny of Palestine must seek the consent of the Palestinian people and address the legitimate concerns of the countries of the region," Zhang emphasized.

In northern Egypt, a seemingly endless row of white trucks lined the road through the desert, their drivers desperate for the go-ahead to move badly needed aid into besieged Gaza.

After tedious days marked by idle chitchat and dreary diets of beans and instant coffee, the men, all Egyptians, took some comfort in the news that more fuel and other essentials may soon be allowed in as part of the four-day truce that could begin as soon as Friday.

But it was far from clear when they might actually move, and as they faced still more mindless waiting, separated from their families and without beds and showers, some showed clear signs of fatigue.

"Before the war we used to work for just two or three days and then take a break. Today we have been for seven days in the same place without moving," said 48-year-old Alaa Moustafa, shuffling around in sandals as he mashed beans into yet another stew.

Amid widespread displacement, blackouts, rising malnutrition and worsening sanitation, only about 1,400 truckloads of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza via Egypt for the month ending Tuesday, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA.

That was down from a pre-conflict monthly average of 10,000 truckloads of commercial and humanitarian commodities, the agency said.

Qatar said Israel would also allow more fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza under the latest agreement, but it did not provide details.

Hamas said hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel are to be allowed to enter Gaza every day as part of the deal. Supplies would also reach northern Gaza, the focus of Israel's ground offensive, for the first time, Hamas said.

Israel has severely limited the amount of aid, especially fuel, allowed into Gaza during the conflict, prompting dire shortages of water, food and fuel to run generators.

Minlu Zhang at the United Nations contributed to this story.