Germany welcomes humanitarian pause in Gaza war

Germany on Friday welcomed the start of the humanitarian pause in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, calling it "a sign of hope."

"First of all, it is a sign of hope for the people of Gaza that the agreed cease-fire is now actually in force and appears to be holding for the time being. This means that the parties comply with the first part of the agreements," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

"Now it is important that all parties continue to stick to the mutual agreements and that the hostages, who, as we all know, have endured terrible things, are actually release," he added.

Fischer stressed it was "also important that the opportunity is now used to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza."

Pointing out that the situation in Gaza "continues to remain volatile," he said all efforts should focus now on "stabilizing this humanitarian pause."

The four-day humanitarian pause between the Israeli army and Hamas came into effect on Friday morning in all areas of the Gaza Strip, temporarily stopping attacks for prisoner exchange and aid.

The pause commenced at 7:00 a.m. local time (0500GMT).

Israel estimates that at least 239 Israelis are being held by Hamas following the cross-border attack by the Palestinian group on Oct. 7.

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.