Israel’s national security adviser said the release of hostages under a temporary truce agreement with Hamas will not happen before Friday.
“Negotiations for the release of our captives are progressing and continue all the time,” Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a statement released by the prime minister’s office.
“The start of the release will proceed according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” Hanegbi said.
It is expected that at least 50 hostages will be freed by Hamas during a four-day ceasefire under a new deal with Israel, brokered by the Qatar and the United States.
Dozens of children and their mothers held captive in Gaza since Hamas’s brutal incursion into Israel on 7 October will be freed via Egypt, according to the agreement.
The deal can be expanded to include the release of 85 women and children in total, diplomatic sources told The Independent. Israel is willing to extend the much-needed humanitarian ceasefire by a day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas, sources said.
The first release of hostages had been expected on Thursday, but late on Wednesday Israel said it had been delayed and would not happen until at least Friday.
