A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas will begin today (Friday) at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET), with 13 civilian hostages to be released by Hamas hours later.
According to the terms of the truce, more will follow, with a total of 50 hostages freed over four days, while Palestinian prisoners are also released in waves.
Reports say that the initial group of freed hostages will include members of the same families released together.
US President Joe Biden says he is hopeful a 3-year-old American girl will be among those freed.
Meanwhile, Israel’s defense minister has vowed to continue the fight “forcefully” after the brief truce, saying he expects at least two more months of battle. Israel heavily bombarded sites in Gaza Thursday.
Israel’s military also says it has arrested the director of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, on allegations it served as a Hamas command center. The group and hospital officials deny that charge.
Already, reports put the number of people killed in Gaza from Israeli attacks since October 7 now at 14,854, including 5,850 children.
