Gaza ceasefire to begin Friday morning; Hamas to release 13 hostages: Qatar

Jerusalem: A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will commence from Friday morning and Hamas has agreed to free at least 13 hostages under a deal brokered by Qatar.

The agreement, the first in a brutal, near seven-week-old war, would begin at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and involve a comprehensive ceasefire in north and south Gaza, Qatar's foreign ministry said reports Reuters.

Qatar Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed al Ansari said that Hamas will release at least 13 hostages which mostly include women and children. “The ceasefire will commence on Friday at 7 AM and it has been agreed upon by both sides that Hamas will release 13 hostages at 4 PM on the same day,” said Ansari.

He said that the ceasefire will last for four days, starting from Friday. He added that it is expected that Hamas will also release at least 50 more hostages during the four-day ceasefire under a new deal with Israel.

The Hamas is likely to release the hostages through Egypt.

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The backchannel negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Doha with major players like the US and Saudi Arabia, along with other major Arab countries are underway.

However, Qatar has been at the forefront of these negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Qatar said an operations room in Doha would monitor the truce and the release of hostages, and had direct lines of communication with Israel, the Hamas political office in Doha and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports Reuters.

During the negotiation, Israel said that it could extend the ceasefire by another day for the release of 10 more hostages. However, a deal to free Palestinian children from Israeli prisons has not yet been finalised.

It has also been agreed to allow at least 200 aid trucks to deliver relief and also four additional trucks will deliver fuel and cooking gas every day of the truce to all areas of Gaza.

Egypt, also involved in mediation, 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, reports Reuters.

According to the Hamas-run Palestine Health Ministry, more than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli attacks while 2,700 Palestinians are missing and believed to be buried under the rubble.

Israel has said that 1200 of their people have been killed since October 7. Israeli forces have killed 201 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 52 children and at least 53 journalists and media workers.

The Israeli forces have also arrested the Director of Al Shifa Hospital Mohammad Abu Salmiya for questioning him over the “evidence that the Al Shifa Hospital served as a Hamas command and control center".

Hamas condemned the arrest saying that Mohammad Abu Salmiya and other doctors were trying to evacuate remaining patients and wounded from the facility.

With inputs from agencies

Also Read:Israel military arrests director of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital: report