Just after 7 a.m. local time Friday, the skies over Gaza fell quiet for the first time in nearly seven weeks. The truce agreement – brokered through painstaking negotiations – appears to be holding, CNN journalists in southern Israel close to the Gaza Strip have reported.
Now, the world is waiting to see if the second part of the truce agreement – the release of civilian hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel – will also be observed.
An initial group of 13 hostages – expected to be women and children – are set to be released at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Under the Israel-Hamas agreement, a total of 50 women and children are expected to be freed in a release staggered over four days, while there is a pause in fighting. In return, Israel is set to release 39 Palestinian prisoners – also expected to be women and children.
Meanwhile, Palestinians from the north of the Strip – but who had fled south to avoid the worst of the fighting – are reportedly attempting to return to their homes now the truce has begun...
We'll update this post as needed, if and when hostages are released.
UPDATE: The first 13 Israeli hostages have been released; in addition 12 Thai national hostages have been released by Hamas.
