‘Let us pray for peace’: UAE’s Gargash welcomes Gaza ceasefire and calls for independent Palestinian state

Diplomatic adviser to the President says Gaza has endured months of ‘death and devastation'

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, outlined the need for an independent Palestinian state following the start of the Gaza ceasefire. Photo: UAE Presidential Court

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Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, issued a renewed plea for an independent Palestinian state after a long-awaited Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect on Sunday.

Dr Gargash said the six-week halt to fighting had brought an end to “months of death and devastation” in a message posted on social media platform X on Sunday evening.

He said it time to “pray for peace” as international aid efforts to address a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the 15-month war with Israel gathered pace.

“Months of death and devastation in Gaza finally over. Let us pray for peace,” Dr Gargash wrote.

The senior diplomatic criticised some media coverage of the deadly conflict, in which the death toll in Gaza is approaching 47,000.

“Most infuriating was hearing, ‘according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians,’ as if war and bombings do. Time for an independent Palestinian state.”

President Sheikh Mohamed and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Thursday offered their support to the ceasefire plan during high-level talks in Abu Dhabi.

The two leaders underlined the importance of ensuring sufficient humanitarian aid reaches Gaza and reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution as a path to lasting peace.

Hostages released as ceasefire begins

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday at 11.15am local time, after the Palestinian group released the names of the three Israeli hostages to be freed on the first day of the truce.

Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher are the three names on the initial list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of ceasefire. Israel confirmed it received the list and said the military is reviewing the names.

Gazans celebrate as delayed ceasefire takes effect

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Under the ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 737 Palestinian detainees in the first phase of the agreement and, in return, Hamas will release three female hostages on the first day of the ceasefire, four on the seventh day and then 26 over a five-week period.

The Palestinians are among more than 1,700 detainees Israel has agreed to release during the three-phase ceasefire in exchange for Hamas freeing 33 of the remaining 98 Israelis hostages.

Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, at least 110,450 injured and 11,000 have gone missing in the past 15 months, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Most of the population has been displaced, with widespread homelessness across the territory.

International aid effort

The UN's World Food Programme said on Sunday it was moving at full speed to get food to as many Gazans as possible after border crossings reopened as part of a ceasefire deal.

“We're trying to reach a million people within the shortest possible time,” the WFP's deputy executive director Carl Skau said, as the Rome-based UN agency's lorries began rolling into the strip.

“We're moving in with wheat flour, ready-to-eat meals, and we will be working all fronts trying to restock the bakeries,” Mr Skau said, adding the agency would try to provide nutritional supplements to the most malnourished.

“The agreement is for 600 trucks a day … All the crossings will be open.”