The United Nations says an estimated 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have have had to flee their homes during the fighting. Picture: Mohammed Abed - AFP
The four-day truce between Israel and Hamas has finally taken effect after almost seven weeks of relentless bombing by Israel.
The agreement brokered by Qatar brought the first pause in a seven-week-old war that has claimed thousands of lives including women and children.
The agreement was reached earlier this week, but was delayed momentarily to iron out finer details of the agreement.
“The pause will begin at 7am (0500 GMT) on Friday… and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4pm (1400 GMT),” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said on Thursday.
Thirteen people would be freed initially, all women and children from the same families, Ansari told a news conference in Doha, AFP reported.
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Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would also be released on Friday, he said, adding that a list of inmate names have been approved, without saying how many.
Ansari said “the skies will be clear” of drones for a period of time to “allow for the hostage release to happen in a safe environment”.
The ceasefire deal is to take effect in stages that can be extended and broadened. It is also intended to provide aid to Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.
“The agreement, it still… stands and as was agreed upon,” Ansari said.
The lull in Israeli military operations would also be extended for an additional day for every 10 more hostages released by Hamas.
It also includes hundreds of trucks of much-needed humanitarian relief and medical aid as well fuel to be brought to all areas of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, a doctor at Gaza’s largest hospital Al-Shifa told AFP that the facility’s director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday.
The director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, has been frequently quoted by international media about the conditions inside Al-Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli army, which raided the hospital last week, has alleged that Hamas fighters used a tunnel complex beneath the medical facility to stage attacks.
Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied the claims.
More than 14 800 Palestinians including about 6 000 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched reprisal attacks vowing to wipe out Hamas following the 7 October attack on Israel.
In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’ attacks stands at about 1 200.
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