The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has announced that the temporary ceasefire in Gaza will start on Friday morning. The ministry spokesperson also added that the first group of hostages will be released in the afternoon as well.
The first group of hostages will be released by 4 pm on Friday, the spokesperson added.
He also added that the criteria on who be released first was “purely humanitarian”. As per the deal, women and children were given priority for the release.
The spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said 13 Israeli hostages are expected to be released tomorrow. It will be followed by the release of Palestinian detainees from Israel's jail, he added. The two sides had exchanged lists of those to be released, he said.
IDF detains al-Shifa hospital director
Amid the raging Israel-Hamas war, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has detained al-Shifa hospital’s director, Muhammad Abu Salmiya on Thursday. Reportedly, he was detained by IDF troops while he was heading to south of the Gaza Strip.
IDF said it was questioning him over evidence that the facility had been used as a command and control centre for the Hamas. Israel has been firmly accusing Hamas for using hospital as a cover to carry out its coordinated operations. While both Hamas and the hospital authorities denied the accusations.
“In the hospital, under his management, there was extensive Hamas terrorist activity,” the military said in a statement.
"The director of the al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip was apprehended and transferred for ISA questioning following evidence showing that the al-Shifa hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control centre. The Hamas terror tunnel network situated under the hospital also exploited electricity and resources taken from the hospital. In addition, Hamas stored numerous weapons inside the hospital and on the hospital grounds," IDF said in its statement.
While Hamas has condemned the action and said it was a “despicable act”. “We consider it a despicable act that only comes from an entity that lacks all sense of humanity and morals,” said Hamas.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has met Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Beirut. Israel and Hezbollah have again exchanged fire over the UN-drawn blue line that divides Israel and Lebanon. Israel claims to have intercepted multiple launches.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that so far 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the October 7 attack. The figures does not include the updated numbers from hospitals in the north as the services and communications in the area had shut down earlier this month.
Around 6,000 people have been reported missing and are feared to be buried under the rubble.
Truce won't end war
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that the truce agreement had raised hopes of eventually winding down the war. He vowed to continue the war against Hamas after the truce expires. The goal is to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities, added Netanyahu.
We will continue it until we achieve all our goals, Netanyahu said, adding that he had delivered the same message in a phone call to US President Joe Biden.
Along with Hamas attacks, Hezbollah has also been engaged in war with Israel with both exchanging crossfires along the border.
Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel on Thursday as Hezbollah said it had fired 48 Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon. The barrage came after an Israeli strike killed five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of the head of the group's parliamentary bloc.
Meanwhile, under the truce deal, 50 hostages are supposed to be freed in stages, in exchange for the release of what Hamas said would be 150 Palestinian prisoners. Women and children would be released first, and Israel said the truce would be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.
Qatar said the cease-fire would allow a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid" to enter Gaza, including fuel.
Israel's Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offences.
