War between Israel and Hamas: truce and release of hostages will begin on Friday, Qatar assures

A truce in fighting between Israel and Hamas will begin early Friday morning and the first group of 13 hostages will be released in the afternoon, Qatar announced on Thursday, with Hamas confirming an exchange with Palestinian prisoners.

“The humanitarian break will begin at 7:00 am (local time) on Friday,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said, indicating that the 13 female and child hostages would be released “around 4:00 pm the same day.” , as Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip continues Thursday.

Israel confirms it has “received the first list” of hostages

The armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas confirmed the start of a truce at 7:00 a.m. Friday with a “complete cessation of hostilities” for four days, during which 50 hostages, women and children under 19, will be released. the return, according to each of them, for the release of “three Palestinian prisoners, women and children.”

On Thursday, Israel confirmed it had “received the first list of names” of the hostages and said it was “in contact with all families.” The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not specify whether we are talking about all hostages, all those released, or the first interested group.

Qatar, a key mediator, announced on Wednesday, the 47th day of the war, a four-day truce in the fighting that includes the exchange of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and Palestinians held in three Israeli prisons. The agreement calls for an exchange of “10 hostages for 30 prisoners” on the first day of the truce, for a total of 50 civilian hostages released in four days for 150 Palestinians. Israel has published a list of 300 prisoners who could be released, including 33 women and 267 youths under the age of 19.

The international community welcomed the agreement on Wednesday, seeing it as the first step towards a lasting ceasefire. However, the truce “cannot be just a pause,” the Palestinian ambassador to the UN warned, calling for it to be used to prevent “a resumption of Israeli aggression.”