Qatar's foreign ministry says Gaza ceasefire begins Jan. 19
The ceasefire regime in the Gaza Strip will begin to operate in the morning of January 19. This was announced on January 18 by the representative of the Foreign Ministry of Qatar Majed al-Ansari.
"As agreed by the parties to the agreement and mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 a.m. (9.30 Moscow time - Ed. ) on Sunday, January 19, local time in Gaza," he noted on the social network X (former Twitter).
In addition, Al-Ansari called on residents to observe security measures until official statements are received.
Earlier, on January 17, the Israeli government, following a six-hour meeting , approved an agreement with the Palestinian movement Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Palestinian hostages.
Prior to that, The Jerusalem Post reported that in the first stage, in exchange for 2 thousand Palestinian prisoners, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages - children, women (including military), men over 50 years old and "humanitarian hostages." In addition, representatives of the Palestinian movement and Israel signed the final version of the deal in the Qatari capital Doha.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement became known on January 15. The next day, the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparations for the implementation of the agreement. In particular, to the execution of the deal will involve the Directorate of Checkpoints at the Ministry of Defense of the state and the Department of Design to speed up logistics.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israeli territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
