DOHA (Reuters) -A truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will start on Friday at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), with a the first batch of hostages to be released at 4 p.m., a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The truce would include a comprehensive ceasefire in both the north and south of the Gaza Strip, Majed Al-Ansari told reporters in Doha, adding that Palestinians would also be released from Israeli jails as part of the deal.
The lists of civilians to be released from Gaza had been agreed, Ansari said.
The first pause in the seven-week-old war is meant to be accompanied by the release of 50 women and children hostages captured by militants who raided Israel on Oct. 7, in exchange for 150 Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails.
Israel has said the truce could last beyond the initial four days, as long as the militants free at least 10 hostages per day.
Ansari said Qatar hoped to negotiate a subsequent agreement to release additional hostages from Gaza by the fourth day of the truce.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills, writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi, Editing by Alex Richardson)
