DOHA: A four-day pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will start on Friday morning and an exchange of hostages and prisoners will follow hours later, mediator Qatar said. The ceasefire agreement facilitated by Qatar with help from Egypt and the United States had been due to take effect on Thursday but was delayed after a last-minute hitch.

“The pause will begin at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Friday... and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00 pm (1400 GMT),” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Thursday.

Thirteen people would be freed initially, all women and children from the same families, Ansari told a news conference in Doha.

Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would also be released on Friday, he said, adding a list of inmate names had been approved, without saying how many.

Ansari said “the skies will be clear” of drones for a period of time to “allow for the hostage release to happen in a safe environment”.

Israel and Hamas, which have been at war since October 7, had announced a deal on Wednesday allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed during the ceasefire.

“Obviously every day will include a number of civilians as agreed to total 50 within the four days,” the Qatari spokesperson said.

“During these four days, information will be collected about the rest of the hostages to consider the possibility of more releases and thus extending the pause,” he added.

Commenting on the pause, Ansari said it entailed “a complete ceasefire... with no attacks from the air or the ground,” adding that he hoped “there will be no violations”.

The ceasefire deal is to take effect in stages that can be extended and broadened. It is also intended to provide aid to Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.