The first group of thirteen hostages held in Gaza will be released tomorrow at 4pm, after Israel and Hamas finally agreed on which prisoners should be released first.
The four-day ceasefire will take effect tomorrow at 7 a.m., and nine hours later the first group of women and children abducted by Hamas gunmen on October 7 will be released, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
Majed Al-Ansari added that talks between Israel and Hamas had finally ended after both sides agreed on the names of those coming home tomorrow. That list has been handed over to officials.
Israel agreed on Wednesday to a deal that would free 50 women and children abducted by Hamas gunmen in October during a four-day truce, leaving their families in an agonizing wait to see if their loved ones come home.
The process to retrieve the hostages was expected to begin at 10am (8am GMT) today, but officials said no prisoners would be released until Friday, prolonging the torment of their relatives.
It has now emerged that the first group of hostages will be released tomorrow at 4pm through the Red Cross, again raising hopes among the anguished families of the prisoners.
The families have waited in anguish, not knowing if their loved one will ever be among those freed.
Majed Al-Ansari told reporters in Doha that an agreement had been reached on the lists of all civilians to be released from Gaza.
A Palestinian man carries a wounded man as people flee after an Israeli attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday
People mourn as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in airstrikes in Khan Younis on Wednesday
Smoke rises from an explosion following an Israeli attack on the northern part of the Gaza Strip, seen Thursday from Sderot, southern Israel
Among those awaiting news is London-based father Thomas Hand, whose nine-year-old daughter Emily is among those held in the area.
The ceasefire was postponed earlier today because Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement on which hostages would be released first and how, a Palestinian official said.
The hostages’ anguished relatives have expressed their fears that Hamas cannot be trusted, with one exhausted family member saying the terrorists will do “everything they can to ruin the deal.”
Israeli officials have said they would not inform the families in advance to spare them the misery if Hamas changed its mind or chose to release several family members when the ceasefire takes effect.
Last night, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the release of the hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinians was a “complicated and open process.”
“The coming days will be marked by moments of relief and moments of pain,” Hagari said. “They could also be attempts at psychological terrorism by the terrorist organization.”
And last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu During a televised news conference, he vowed to “rescue all hostages held by Hamas” and “eradicate” the terrorist group.
Netanyahu, joined by the two other members of his special war cabinet, also said the war would resume after the four-day ceasefire and continue “until we achieve all our goals.”
Israel’s goal is to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and return all 240 hostages held in Gaza.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas must free 50 women and children from around 240 hostages in the Gaza Strip over a four-day period, the Israeli government said.
In return, Israel will free 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and allow 300 aid trucks to enter Gaza each day of the ceasefire to provide much-needed aid to civilians trapped there.
The hostages released are women and children, and the Palestinian prisoners are female and male detainees aged 18 and under.
The hostages include at least 35 children, 18 of whom are aged 10 or younger according to an AFP count, as well as more than 50 women.
Israel said the exchange would take place in two phases. As a first step, 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the ceasefire. If successful, a second phase could lead to the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for another 50 hostages during an extended ceasefire, the Israeli government said.
Netanyahu said in an address to the families of kidnapped Israelis on Wednesday that he has not stopped thinking about them and their loved ones since the start of the war. He also assured them that “we will rescue all hostages held by Hamas.”
He also revealed that the ceasefire came about thanks to the “tremendous military pressure” exerted on Hamas and his government’s diplomatic efforts.
Addressing the families of the hostages, Netanyahu (pictured) said that since the start of the war he has not stopped thinking about them and their loved ones, adding that ‘we will rescue all the hostages held by Hamas’
Hospitals across Israel are ready to receive the fifty or so hostages who will arrive over the next four days, when a four-day ceasefire takes effect tomorrow at 10 a.m. (Photo: Photos of hostages at the Museum of Modern Art in Tel Aviv)
Israeli troops patrol a street on Wednesday during a military operation in the northern Gaza Strip, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.