A pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will start on Friday morning and an exchange of hostages and prisoners will follow hours later, mediator Qatar said, after nearly seven weeks of fighting.
The breakthrough four-day truce facilitated by Qatar with help from Egypt and the United States had been due to take effect on Thursday but was delayed after a last-minute hitch.
Qatar said the pause would begin Friday at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) with the “first batch” of 13 civilian hostages — all women and children from the same families — being handed over around nine hours later.
