No Hostage Release Planned Before Friday, Says Israel After Truce Pact With Hamas

Israel said that the release of hostages will not take place before Friday after it signed a deal with Hamas to stop fighting for four days.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause fighting for four days and free hostages and release 150 Palestinians prisoners from Israel

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The release of hostages under a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will not take place before Friday, said Israel's national security adviser, according to a Reuters report. 

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza for at least four days to free 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant group and release of 150 Palestinian jailed in Israel. 

While the starting time of the ceasefire is yet to be announced officially, a source from an Egyptian Security told Reuters that the mediators sought a start time of 10 am on Thursday. 

In a statement released by the prime minister's office, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said: "The negotiations on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly." 

"The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday," it said.

Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that there was a 24-hour delay because Hamas and mediatir Qatar did not sign the agreement, citing an unidentified Israeli official as saying. The official said they were optimistic that the agreement would be carried out once signed. 

"No one said there would be a release tomorrow except the media," Kan quoted a source in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office as saying.

"We had to make it clear that no release is planned before Friday, because of the uncertainty that hostages' families are facing," the source added.  

After the October 7 surprise attacks by Hamas on Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis, the Palestinian militant group escaped to the Gaza Strip with about 240 hostages of different nationalities. 

In retaliation, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in which more than 14,000 Palestintian civilians have been killed with around 40 per cent of them being children, as per medical officials in the territory.