JERUSALEM
Israeli forces continued their attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday even after the announcement that a humanitarian pause would take effect on Friday.
The Health Ministry in Gaza announced that it stopped its coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) for the evacuation of patients and medical teams in hospitals in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli army detained health care workers.
This came after Israeli forces detained Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of the Al-Shifa Hospital, on Thursday.
Israeli attack on UN school
At least 27 people were killed and 93 others were injured in an air attack carried out by Israeli warplanes on the Abu Hussein School affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in northern Gaza Strip.
In another Israeli airstrike on a civilian settlement, at least 11 people were killed and many others were injured, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Indonesian, Al-Shifa hospitals targeted
The Israeli army targeted the main generator of the Indonesian Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The Health Ministry in Gaza reported that the hospital was exposed to "severe bombardment" by the Israeli army and that there was fear for the lives of 200 injured people and medical staff.
The Israeli army raided the Indonesian Hospital with intense fire, killing a wounded woman and injuring at least three others.
Hamas’ military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Islamic Jihad movement’s military wing the Al-Quds Brigades announced that they targeted Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in different parts of the Gaza Strip.
Before the humanitarian pause came into effect, the Israeli army targeted a part of Gaza’s largest medical complex, Al-Shifa Hospital with a high-impact bomb, which it claimed was the "Hamas tunnel infrastructure".
Humanitarian Pause
A four-day humanitarian pause took effect Friday after an agreement was reached between Hamas and Israel under the Qatari and Egyptian mediation.
However, while the humanitarian pause came into effect in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its raids in the occupied West Bank.
After a humanitarian pause came into effect in Gaza early on Friday, trucks carrying much-needed fuel began entering the Palestinian enclave from Egypt in a first since Israel imposed a strict blockade early last month.
Authorities in Gaza said on Friday that 150 relief trucks entered the Gaza Strip via Rafah crossing, including four loaded with cooking gas, and three with fuel.
The Gaza Strip needs 400,000 liters of fuel, that is, 500 trucks, per day under normal conditions.
Prisoner exchange deal
Israel and Hamas on Friday conducted the first prisoner exchange since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7.
The Israeli army announced that 13 hostages released on the first day of the humanitarian pause in the ongoing conflict in Gaza have arrived in Israel.
Meanwhile, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin confirmed that 12 Thai citizens were also released by Hamas.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said that Hamas released 24 Israelis and foreigners in exchange for the release of 39 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, in the first batch of exchange.
The ICRC also said in a statement: “We are relieved to confirm the safe release of 24 hostages.”
“We have facilitated this release by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah border, marking the real-life impact of our role as a neutral intermediary between the parties,” the ICRC said.
Moreover, Israeli authorities released Palestinian prisoners as part of an exchange deal with Hamas.
An Anadolu correspondent in the West Bank said 39 Palestinian prisoners were released from the Israeli Ofer prison, west of Ramallah.
Under the Israel-Hamas deal, the prisoners will be released in batches over a period of four days.
Israel estimates that at least 239 Israelis are being held by Hamas following the cross-border attack by the Palestinian group on Oct. 7.
War to continue
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that Israel will continue its attacks in the Gaza Strip after the temporary humanitarian pause.
“There will be a short pause, and after that we will continue to work with full military force,” Gallant said in a statement.
"We will not stop until we achieve our goals: destroying Hamas and returning the hostages from Gaza to Israel - There are 240 hostages and this is something we cannot accept nor tolerate,” he added.
The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has soared to 14,854, the government media office in the blockaded enclave said Thursday.
The victims include 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, while more than 36,000 people have been injured, it said.
The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
