Mediator Qatar announced that a four-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip, is expected to begin at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Friday.
The brief pause in the fighting, which has raged since October 7, was welcomed after weeks of intense bombardment and deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
What’s in the deal, how will it play out and what can we expect to see in the days to come?
When does the truce start?
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, which played a key role in mediating between the two sides, said the truce would come into effect at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday.
At 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT), a group of 13 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be released.
What is included in the offer?
The key elements are a pause in the fighting, the exchange of Hamas captives for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and the cessation of air traffic over northern Gaza at certain times of the day and over the southern Gaza in its entirety.
How will the hostages and prisoners be freed?
Over the course of four days, Hamas will free 50 women and children, among approximately 240 people captured by the group during its attack on southern Israel on October 7.
In exchange, Israel will release a total of 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, whom Palestinians have long characterized as victims of an Israeli occupation that drags them into prisons without any pretense of due process.
Israel has given a list of around 300 Palestinian prisoners eligible for release, none of whom have been charged with murder and many of whom have been arbitrarily detained without trial. Israel said its forces would prevent celebrations for their release.
Israeli Army Radio said the first group of 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released on Friday around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), and that this would only happen if the hostages held in Gaza were on Israeli soil.
Israel said the break would be extended by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Qatar also said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would work in Gaza to facilitate the liberation process.
In a statement released Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had received a list of those released and had informed their families.
This development brought relief for some, but despair for others.
What about armed activities?
Asked about the status of armed activities under the deal, Qatari chief negotiator Mohammed Al-Khulaifi said “no attacks” would take place.
“No military movements, no expansion, nothing,” he said.
Hamas said Israel had agreed to suspend air traffic over northern Gaza from 10:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) to 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) each day, as well as over southern Gaza for the duration. of the truce.
The group said Israel had agreed not to attack or arrest anyone in Gaza and that people could move freely along Salah al-Din road, the main street along which many Palestinians fled the north from Gaza, where Israel launched its ground invasion.
Hamas also said its military wing and all other “Palestinian factions” would cease “all military activity” when the truce comes into force.
The group said 200 aid trucks and four fuel trucks would be allowed into Gaza each day, as Palestinian civilians recover from a humanitarian crisis caused by weeks of Israeli bombardment and severe restrictions on access to food, fuel, electricity and water.
Is this the end of the fighting?
Probably not. While countries including Qatar, humanitarian groups and world leaders have expressed hope that the truce could pave the way for a long-term ceasefire, Israel and Hamas have expressed their intention to continue the fight .
On Thursday, a spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, Abu Obeida, said Palestinian fighters remained ready to confront Israeli forces as long as the war continued and called for resistance to Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the upcoming pause “a brief respite…at the end of which the fighting will continue intensely and we will create pressure to bring back more hostages” during an interview with a unit Navy special operations team Thursday.
“At least two more months of fighting are expected,” he said.
This week, Netanyahu said the deal was a pause rather than an end to the war.
“We are at war and we will continue the war,” he said. “We will continue until we achieve all of our goals.”