By Ibrahim al-Khazen
ISTANBUL (AA) – Egypt called on Israel and Hamas on Thursday to implement a humanitarian pause deal in the Gaza Strip.
"Egypt has received the lists of hostages and detainees who are scheduled to be released on Friday,” Diaa Rashwan, the head of the State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement.
“Egypt demands the parties to the (humanitarian) pause to commit to implementing the deal as planned and agreed,” he added, without providing any further details.
Qatar earlier on Thursday said that the Gaza humanitarian pause will 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,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha.
He said 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 in 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.