Israel and Hamas entered a four-day ceasefire on Friday with the Palestinian group set to release the first group of hostages later in the day and increased aid to flow into the besieged Gaza Strip, the first pause in a nearly seven-week-old war.
The truce’s scheduled start was 7am (0500 GMT). A number of Palestinians were expected to be released from Israeli jails later in the day as part of the ceasefire, Reuters Reported.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that the first group of Israeli captives, 13 women and children, are set to be released at 4pm local time.
The Red Cross will transport them to the Rafah border crossing, where they will be identified by the Israeli military before being taken to Tel Aviv for physical and psychological tests.
Meanwhile, 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israel, taking them from Damon and Megiddo prisons. They will then be driven to Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, and handed over to their families at a nearby crossing.
Much-needed humanitarian aid is also expected to cross from Egypt into Gaza in the hours that follow. According to Hamas, 200 aid trucks and more trucks of fuel will enter Gaza daily.
Of the over 1.7 million people in Gaza estimated to be internally displaced, about 1m are staying in at least 156 UNRWA shelters across the Gaza Strip.
In an update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said due to the lack of shelters in southern Gaza, “most displaced men and older boys are sleeping in the open, in school yards or in the streets”.
