The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the truce between Israel and Hamas will begin Friday morning, after a delay in the implementation of the agreement pushed back the initially planned date of Thursday at 10 a.m. local time.
"The pause will begin at 7:00 am (local time) on Friday... and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00 pm (local time) on the same day," said ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari, in statements reported by AFP.
According to the same source, Hamas, through the Al Qassam Brigades, also announced the pause in hostilities on Thursday. "The truce applies for four days, starting from Friday morning, accompanied by the cessation of all military actions," reported the armed wing of the terrorist group. They also specified that 50 hostages in total will be released, with Israel exchanging three Palestinian prisoners for each one.
The list of hostages
Israel confirmed that has a list of names of the hostages who will be released. "The relevant officials are checking the details of the list and are currently in contact with all families," the Israeli Prime Minister's office said in a statement reported by The Times of Israel.
In another statement, the office announced that the families of the hostages had been informed who would and who would not be released. It also asked that the list not be disclosed until the release is completed.
