The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militia Hamas will begin at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) on Friday, and civilian hostages will be released at 4 p.m. local time, Qatar announced Thursday.

According to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, thirteen women and children will be released, CNN reported on Thursday.

The Israeli government confirmed that it has received a list of the names of the hostages Hamas is holding in the Gaza Strip and that they will be released in this first batch.

“Israel confirms that it has received a preliminary list of names. “Designated officials are verifying details of the list and are currently in contact with all families,” said a brief statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to the agreement, Hamas will release between 10 and 13 hostages each day during the four days of the agreed ceasefire, until it reaches 50; and that will be when Israel releases the Palestinians.

A first batch of 39 Palestinian children and women in Israeli prisons will be released On Friday, the day on which the Islamic group will free a group of thirteen hostages, Egyptian state television Al Qahera News reported.

A group of students take part in a march to express solidarity with Palestinians, in Islamabad on November 23, 2023. An agreement between Israel and Hamas will allow the release of at least 50 hostages and dozens of Palestinians. Photo: AFP

This number of released corresponds to the agreed ratio of three Palestinians released for every hostage released, something confirmed on Thursday by the Al-Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

In total, the deal, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, provides for the release of 150 Palestinians in exchange for 50 women and children held hostage in the Gaza Strip, although it has not been made public whether the Palestinians will doing. whether all prisoners held by Hamas will return to Israel or whether they will be daily exchanges.

If everything goes ahead, the ceasefire could be extended for up to ten days, allowing Hamas to extradite 150 kidnapped people out of the approximately 240 Hamas is holding captive; and Israel will free up to 300 Palestinians.

Fighting will continue with ‘intensity’

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that once the “brief” temporary ceasefire in Gaza ends, fighting within the enclave will resume “with intensity” for at least another two months.

“What we will see in the coming days is first and foremost the release of the hostages. This delay will be short-lived,” Gallant said today during a visit to troops from the Israeli Navy’s Shayetet 13 unit.

Israeli sources have confirmed this For every ten additional hostages that Hamas wishes to release after those four days, the ceasefire can be extended by one day, up to a maximum of ten days.

“What is required of you during this delay is to organize, prepare, research, resupply weapons and prepare to proceed,” Gallant urged the soldiers.

“There will be a sequel, because we need to complete the victory and create momentum for the next groups of hostages, who will return only under military pressure,” the minister said.

It is estimated that Palestinian militias in Gaza have approximately 240 kidnapped people in their possession, with approximately 210 in the hands of Hamas and another 30 in the hands of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In total, at least 40 children are trapped in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. They received today the list of the 50 hostages to be handed over by Hamas, although out of an abundance of caution it has not been made public.

“Hamas will try to use the days of the agreement to spread fear, disinformation and psychological terror. The agreement is not the end of the process, but the beginning,” said Israeli army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari.

The spokesperson assured that the troops will focus “on planning and completing preparations for the next phases of the battle.”

Of the more than 240 people Hamas kidnapped on October 7, four women – an American mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women – have already been released for “humanitarian reasons,” the Islamist group said.

Similarly, a soldier was rescued by the Israeli army and the bodies of two kidnapped women were found in the Gaza Strip: a 19-year-old soldier and a 65-year-old woman. (JO)