A pause in fighting will begin at 7am local time on Friday – Qatar

Here’s a quick recap of what has been learned about the hostage release agreement announced by Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari:

• A pause in fighting will begin at 7am local time on Friday, both north and south of the Gaza Strip
• 13 hostages will be released at approximately 4pm
• All those to be released are women and children
• They will be handed to the Red Cross, but no details have been given of their route out of Gaza
• Qatar says it expects Palestinian prisoners to be freed “as a result of the release of hostages”, but gave no numbers
• Israel has confirmed it has received a list of those who will be released first, and is contacting their families
• Hamas has confirmed the four-day pause will begin at 7am, and says four fuel trucks and 200 aid trucks will be allowed to enter Gaza on each of the four days
• Qatari foreign office spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said he believed the details of the plan were “sound and robust”. He added: “I don’t know if I should say confident, but we are very hopeful, and the commitment we have seen from both sides leads us to be very positive.”

(BBC)