Tel Aviv, 19 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - A newly brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday, after being delayed by several hours due to a dispute over the first hostages to be released under the deal.

The initial six-week halt to fighting began at 11:15 am (0915 GMT), the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced just minutes before.

The ceasefire had originally been expected to begin at 8:30 am but was pushed back when Israel said Hamas had failed to provide the names of three Israeli hostages to be freed today in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Hamas has since named the hostages, who are reportedly three civilian women, saying the delay was for "technical reasons."

The three Israeli captives due to be released include two who are dual nationals, according to Qatar, which helped mediate the deal. 

"We confirm that the names of the 3 hostages to be released today have been handed over to the Israeli side. They are three Israeli citizens, one of whom is of Romanian nationality and the other of British nationality," spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry Majed Al Ansari said.

The Israeli Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Gal Hirsch initially notified the hostages' families and asked that the privacy of the individuals be protected.

At around the same time, the first 90 or so Palestinian prisoners are to be released in Israel and taken by security forces either to the West Bank or Gaza.

It is unclear whether these timings remain current, given the delayed start of the ceasefire.

Israel continued attacking Gaza as it waited for the list of names, with artillery and the air force hitting what the military said were "terror targets" in the north and centre of the strip.

Thirteen people were killed throughout Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled civil defence. The information could not be independently verified and the Israeli military has not commented on the reports so far.

Israel did say the military had recovered the body of a soldier killed during combat in Gaza in 2014 in a covert, special operation.

Following months of stalemate in the 15-month Gaza war, a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian extremist group Hamas was brokered earlier this week.

The agreement foresees the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, while the Israeli army is to withdraw from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

The deal was announced on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire and Hamas to release the hostages it is holding.

On Sunday, Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned in protest at the ceasefire, Israeli media reported.

Ben-Gvir's far-right, ultra-nationalist Otzma Yehudit party, which holds six seats in the 120-seat Knesset, will leave the governing coalition, the reports said.

Ben-Gvir had long voiced resistance against a ceasefire deal with Hamas, threatening to exit the government.

Netanyahu's right-wing religious government will continue to hold a razor-thin 62-seat majority in parliament despite the exit of Otzma Yehudi.

The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed out of the coastal territory and killed some 1,200 people in southern Israeli communities.

Israel responded with massive bombardment of Gaza, laying much of the sealed-off territory to ruins, and also launched a ground incursion with the stated aim of fully eradicating Hamas.

More than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to Palestinian estimates.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement also provides for a rapid increase in aid deliveries for more than 2 million Gazans, 90% of whom are affected by hunger, according to UN figures.

Photo: MIA archive