A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war began on Friday, with hostages set to be released in exchange for prisoners in the first major reprieve in seven weeks of war that have claimed thousands of lives.
The two sides had agreed to silence guns and stop bombings from 7:00 am (0500 GMT) in a conflict that erupted after Hamas’s murderous raids into Israel on October 7.
As part of the agreement, 13 women and children held hostage in Gaza are due to be freed at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), followed by a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, according to Qatari mediators.
