Hamas-Israel Ceasefire Begins Friday Morning, 13 Hostages and 39 Palestinian Prisoners Will be Freed This Afternoon

Israeli soldiers in Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - A ceasefire between the militant group Hamas and Israel will begin Friday morning local time, while the release of prisoners and hostages will take place in the afternoon.

Qatar, as the mediator in negotiations between the two parties, said the ceasefire began at 7 am local time. Meanwhile, the release of hostages and detainees will take place at around 4 p.m.

For the first stage, thirteen female and child hostages will be released, according to Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, quoted by CNN, November 24.

An undisclosed number of Palestinian prisoners will also be released, once the hostages are freed from Gaza, a Qatari spokesman said at a press conference.

The route the freed hostages will take cannot be disclosed for security reasons, Al-Ansari said. Qatar itself is collaborating with the Red Cross during this process.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials said 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released on Friday, as part of the first phase of a deal with Hamas brokered by Qatar and the United States.

The prisoners will be taken from two prisons – Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa – to Ofer prison, south of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross.

From there they will be taken via the nearest Beitunia crossing point and on to their hometowns and villages in the West Bank.

Teenage girls and boys up to the age of 18 are expected to be released prisoners.

Regarding the released Israeli hostages, the official said they would enter Israel at two locations, the Nitzana border with Egypt and directly through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Gaza.

After returning to Israeli territory, the freed hostages will be taken by helicopter to two hospitals near Tel Aviv, the official added.

Al-Ansari said Qatar would receive a list of names of hostages who would be released by Hamas in a day-by-day process.

Next, Qatar will hand over the names to Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, which in turn will hand over a list of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released to Qatar, he added.

"Whenever we have confirmed both lists, this is the time we can start the process of removing those people," explained Al-Ansari.

"There is an agreed time interval: Every day one group will be released," he added.

Once freed, the hostages will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Al-Ansari added.