Ceasefire to commence on Friday, Hamas to release 13 hostages in Qatar-brokered deal

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

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 the 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 said 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.

The ongoing backchannel negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Doha -- with major players like the U.S and Saudi Arabia -- along with other major Arab countries are taking part in the negotiations. However, Qatar has been at the forefront of these negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas has taken at least over 200 hostages during its attack on October 7.

During the negotiation, Israel has said that it can extend the ceasefire by another day for 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.

Hamas Health Ministry has said that more than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza due to Israel attacks while 2,700 Palestinians are missing and believed to be buried under the rubble. The Israel has said that 1200 of their people have been killed since October 7.

Israeli forces have also killed 201 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 52 children.

At least 53 journalists and media workers have also been killed by Israel.

The Israeli forces have also arrested Director of Al Shifa Hospital Mohammad Abu Salmiya has also been was arrested by Israeli forces.

It is believed that Salmiya is being questioned on “evidence that the Al Shifa Hospital served as a Hamas command and control center" of Hamas.