Israel hostages release – latest: First women and children to be freed as Gaza ceasefire begins

Rishi Sunak has thanked Qatar and Egpyt for the “intensive diplomacy” required in getting the “critical” humanitarian pause in Gaza over the line.

“This humanitarian pause is critical to end the terrible ordeal of hostages held by Hamas and get life-saving aid into Gaza,” said the prime minister.

“I want to thank Qatar, Egypt and others for the intensive diplomacy that has got us here. We will not stop until all hostages are safely returned.”

Israel will release 39 Palestinian prisoners on Friday, Palestine’s commissioner for prisoners has said.

Some 24 women and 15 teenage boys – all of them from either the occupied West Bank or Jerusalem – will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Israel’s Ofer military jail around 4pm local time, Qadura Fares told Reuters.

“After the Red Cross receives the [Palestinian] prisoners, the ones from Jerusalem will go to Jerusalem and the ones from the West Bank will gather in Betunia municipal council where their families will be waiting,” Mr Fares told Reuters.

As millions of Americans gather together for turkey and pumpkin pie, one New York family is desperately missing their 19-year-old son, who is still being held hostage by Hamas.

“Today is Thanksgiving. As Americans we have an empty seat at the table — you do not want to live in my universe,” his father Ruby Chen told The Independent.

His son Itay Chen was captured by the militant group during the deadly attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 civilians in Israel. Earlier this week a major diplomatic and humanitarian breakthrough was reached, with 50 women and children hostages expected to be released by Hamas on Friday morning. Part of the deal is a four day ceasefire to allow the removal of the hostages, and rare respite for Palestinain civilians barely surviving under ferocious Israeli bombardment of the besieged strip.

Teenage Itay – who was a member of the Israeli military stationed near Gaza – is not expected to be freed yet.

Bel Trew and Mike Bedigan have the full report:

A Palestinian journalist reports that Israeli forces have allegedly opened fire at Palestinians in central Gaza, less than three hours after the humanitarian pause began.

The Independent is seeking further information.

Four tankers of fuel and four tankers of cooking gas have been transferred to UN humanitarian groups in southern Gaza via the Rafah crossing this morning, the IDF has said.

The aid was approved by Israel as part of the pause and the framework for the release of the hostages overseen by the US, Qatar and Egypt, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has warned thousands of displaced Palestinians against returning to their homes in the north of Gaza during the four-day ceasefire.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to seek refuge in southern Gaza due to Israel’s incessant bombardment of the northern part of the Strip.

Arabic-language leaflets dropped Friday over southern Gaza said that “the war has not ended yet” and people should remain in place.

“Returning to the north is prohibited and very dangerous,” the leaflets said. “Your fate and the fate of your families is in your hands. We have warned you.”

Israel’s justice ministry has published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offences.

A four-day Qatar-brokered ceasefire began on Friday at 7am, which is set to be followed by the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas militants.

The first group of 13 women and children held by Hamas would be freed on Friday afternoon, Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson said.

During the four-day period Hamas pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages, while Israel is expected to free 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Both sides will release women and children first, the Qatari official said.

There is a provision in the deal for more groups of hostages and prisoners to be exchanged in subsequent days, but this would be dependent on the ceasefire holding.

The negotiations hardly ran smoothly. But in the end, persistence paid off.

Six weeks ago, not long after Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took scores of others hostage in a surprise assault, the government of Qatar quietly reached out to the US to discuss how to release those who had been taken captive by the militant group.

But the mission demanded extreme sensitivity. It was so secret that US officials established a communications cell to reach Hamas directly, and kept those negotiations tightly guarded throughout the US government. Only a handful of people were aware of the talks, according to a senior White House official.

For weeks through the cell, which allowed the small circle of negotiators to speak regularly without additional bureaucracy, US and Israeli officials would scramble to put together a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by Hamas.

The White House saw that as the only realistic way to halt the bloody combat that has devastated the region for more than six weeks.

The US continuously pushed Hamas, with Qatar and Egypt acting as critical intermediaries.

The Israeli military sounded sirens in two villages near the Gaza Strip on Friday, warning of possible rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled region just 15 minutes after a four-day truce came into force.

There was no confirmation of a rocket launch, which would be the first violation of the Qatar-brokered truce.

Rocket alarms were also sounded in two border villages just two hours prior to the commencement of the truce, Times of Israel reported.