Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas will start a four-day truce on Friday morning with some Israeli hostages released later that day, mediators in Qatar said.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told reporters in Doha on Thursday the list of all civilians that would be released from Gaza had been agreed upon. A comprehensive ceasefire in southern and northern Gaza will start on Friday at 7 a.m. local time, with some hostages to be released at 4 p.m.
He said he expected 13 hostages in Gaza — women and children — would be released. Details on the Palestinians to be released Friday from Israeli custody were not revealed at the news conference.
Qatar, where some Hamas officials reside, has acted as a mediator, along with Egypt and the U.S., since Hamas launched attacks on Oct. 7 in southern Israel.
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The first truce in the seven-week-old war is meant to be accompanied, over a period of days, by the release of 50 women and children hostages captured by militants who raided Israel, in exchange for 150 Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails. Israel has said it believes some 240 people were taken hostage, and four people have previously been released.
Al-Ansari referred to the agreement as the “first glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel” since Oct. 7.
Featured VideoIsrael and Hamas have agreed to a four-day ceasefire in Gaza, enabling the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Andrew Chang examines the fragile truce and the ways it could fall apart.
Egypt is receiving lists of hostages and prisoners that are expected to be released and called on both sides to respect the agreement, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said in a statement.
West Bank Palestinians could be released
Those in prison in Israel who could be released include many teenage boys detained during a wave of violence in the West Bank in 2022 or 2023 and charged with offences such as stone-throwing or disturbing public order, according to a list of eligible prisoners published by Israel’s Justice Ministry. Israel currently holds nearly 7,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of security offences.
Hamas said hundreds of trucks carrying…
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