The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect in less than 24 hours, said Qatar's foreign ministry on Saturday. The AP reports Majid al-Ansari said in a post on X that the ceasefire will start at 8:30am local time Sunday. He advised people to exercise caution when the agreement goes into effect and to wait for directions from officials.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The exchange will begin Sunday at 4pm. During each exchange, prisoners will be released by Israel after the hostages have arrived safely. The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
The plan says that during phase one, some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released, in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages, both alive and dead. Among the prisoners, 1,167 are residents in Gaza who were held by Israel but were not involved in Oct. 7. All women and children under 19 from Gaza held by Israel will be freed during this phase. All Palestinian prisoners who were convicted of deadly attacks will be exiled, either to Gaza or abroad, and barred from returning to Israel or the West Bank. Some will be exiled for three years and others permanently, according to the plan.
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Despite the ceasefire news, sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday, with the army saying it intercepted projectiles launched from Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis have stepped up their missile attacks in recent weeks. The group says the attacks are part of their campaign aimed at pressuring Israel and the West over the war in Gaza. There were also continued Israeli strikes into Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 23 people were killed in the previous day.
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