A temporary ceasefire in the Palestinian city of Gaza will begin at 7 a.m. (10 a.m. Pakistani time) on November 24. Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman made the announcement during a press conference.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said the first group of 4 Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be released by 7 p.m. Gaza time (13 p.m. Pakistani time) after a temporary ceasefire.
"Hostages belonging to one family will be released together," he said.
He added that the hostages would be released on a daily basis and a total of 4 hostages would be released in four days.
Israel and Hamas’ four-day truce is set to begin on Friday at 7am local time in Gaza.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 23, 2023
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry lays out the main points of the deal ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/dk5gnbDjq5
He said consultations with the parties to the conflict and Egyptian officials continued in Doha until this morning and the meetings were held in a positive atmosphere.
A Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said that he could not say about the route carrying Israeli hostages out of Gaza due to security reasons, our aim is to ensure the safety of the hostages.
"Our focus is on ensuring that this work is done safely, for which the Red Crescent and the parties will also play a role," he added.
He, however, refrained from giving the number of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel on the first day of the ceasefire.
"We can't say the number of Palestinian prisoners right now, but we can assure that this is a bilateral agreement, so we expect israel to release the prisoners," he said.
The spokesman said Israel and Hamas had provided lists of hostages to Qatar and talks would be held for the release of more hostages during a temporary ceasefire.
Responding to a question, he said that the provision of humanitarian assistance is an integral part of the agreement and we hope that the delivery of aid from Rafah crossing will start as soon as possible.
"We want this temporary ceasefire to be a long-term agreement," he said.
