Qatar says 13 hostages to be released from Gaza

Gaza

Qatar, which has been mediating between Israel and Hamas, has just announced the temporary ceasefire in Gaza will start on Friday morning.

The first group of hostages will be released in the afternoon.

-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."