Israel and Hamas ceasefire deal takes effect as families await hostage release
CBSN
A long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has officially begun after a last-minute delay of almost three hours. The fighting continued past the initially provisioned 8:30 a.m. local (1:30 a.m. Eastern) deadline as the Israeli military said Hamas had failed to provide the names of the first three hostages due to be released, per the terms of the agreement.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed that a list of names had been provided and that the ceasefire would take effect from 11:15 a.m. local time (4:15 a.m. Eastern). Now, families in Israel wait for the release of hostages who have been held by Hamas for more than 15 months.
The exchange is set to begin at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 4 p.m. local time on Sunday.
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