A four-day truce agreed by Israel and Hamas began on Friday, with thousands of Palestinians returning to their homes, mediator Qatar said.
The warring sides have started a four-day ceasefire with the militants set to release 13 Israeli women and child hostages and aid to flow into the besieged Gaza enclave, the first pause in the near seven-week-old war.
Thousands of Palestinians began returning to their homes to check on property and look for family members early on Friday.
The truce began at 7 a.m. local time, involving a comprehensive ceasefire in north and south Gaza, and was to be followed by the release of some of the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack inside Israel, mediators in Qatar said.
A number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons were to be freed in exchange.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in Doha that additional aid would start flowing into Gaza and the first hostages, including elderly women, would be freed at 4 p.m. local time, with the total number rising to 50 over the four days.
Egypt said 130,000 liters of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza when the truce starts, and that 200 trucks of aid would enter Gaza daily.
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