Gaza War Pause, Hostage Release Now To Start Today

Families of hostages held by Hamas and of Palestinians detained by Israel were forced to wait an extra day after the breakthrough deal was put on hold

A pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will start on Friday morning with the first hostages to be released hours later, mediator Qatar said, after nearly seven weeks of fighting.

Qatar, which facilitated the truce deal along with Egypt and the United States, said the pause would begin on Friday at 7am local time with the "first batch" of 13 civilian hostages being handed over at 4pm.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed the ceasefire would start at 7am under the deal that is also intended to provide aid to Gaza's 2.4 million residents struggling to survive with shortages of food, water and fuel.

Thirteen people would be freed initially, all women and children from the same families, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha.