Israeli army says Gaza pause deal may face ‘changes’

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army warned Thursday evening that there may be changes in a humanitarian pause deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“These will be complex days. Nothing is final until it actually happens. And even amid the process, there may be changes at any moment,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference.

He warned that Hamas will attempt to use the deal to spread “fear, disinformation and psychological terror” against the Israeli public.

The deal is not “the end of the process, but the start,” Hagari said.

A humanitarian pause deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. local time (0500GMT) on Friday.

“The first group of civilian hostages will be swapped at around 4 p.m. on Friday,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha.

He added that 50 hostages will be released in four days.

​​​​​​​“The first group of hostages will include 13 women and children,” he added.

Israel estimates that at least 239 Israelis are being held by Hamas following the cross-border attack by the Palestinian group on Oct. 7.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following the Hamas attack, killing more than 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.