The truce brokered by Qatar between Israel and Hamas went into effect at 7 am (local time). In the lead-up to the temporary ceasefire, there were rocket sirens in Israeli towns near Gaza, and the IDF conducted intense shelling in Gaza to advance its mission against Hamas, The Times of Israel reported.
At 4 pm, 13 hostages in Gaza are set to be freed, followed by an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Over the next four days, around 50 women and children will be released, leaving an estimated 190 in the hands of Palestinian groups. Additionally, 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors, are expected to be released, as reported by The Times of Israel.
The deal offers incentives for more hostage releases, with Israel agreeing to an extra day of truce for every ten additional hostages released by Hamas. The truce allows for an influx of fuel and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, marking the first cessation of fighting since the conflict began seven weeks ago when Hamas massacred roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday afternoon (local time) that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas would take effect on Friday at 7 am.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the receipt of an “initial” list of names of abductees expected to be released, updating families of those set to return and providing information to relatives of those not included in the list.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari stated that Doha had received the list of names of civilians the terror group would release on the first day of the deal. Originally expected to commence on Thursday morning, the truce was delayed late on Wednesday night, with Israel’s National Security Council chairman Tzachi Hanegbi stating that the release of hostages would not begin before Friday. Despite planning to halt combat operations on Thursday, Israel indicated it would continue as usual until the deal came into effect, The Times of Israel reported.
