ANKARA

At least 26 Palestinians were killed and over 36 others injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza on Sunday in the run-up to a ceasefire agreement in the enclave, medics said.

The Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect at 11.15 a.m. local time (0915GMT) on Sunday after a few hours’ delay due to Israeli accusations for Hamas of delaying the release of a list of captives set to be released. It was originally scheduled to start on 8.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT).

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said six people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Israeli strikes also killed nine people in Gaza City, three in northern Gaza and one in the southern city of Rafah, he added.

A medical source also said that seven people lost their lives when Israeli jets hit a car in central Khan Younis.

According to witnesses, Israeli drones opened fire on Palestinians returning to their areas after the start of the ceasefire

Israeli artillery shelling was reported in Khan Younis and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, but there were no reports of casualties.

Israeli army vehicles also opened fire east of the Shujaiya and Zeitoun neighborhoods in Gaza City, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Hamas said that it already submitted a list of three female Israeli captives set to be freed on Sunday.

Mediator Qatar also confirmed that the ceasefire took effect in Gaza after the names of the three captives set to be released on Sunday were handed to Israel.

Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Ahmed Asmar