DOHA, QATAR – A four-day pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will begin Friday morning and an exchange of hostages and prisoners will follow hours later, mediator Qatar said.

The ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatar with help from Egypt and the United States was due to come into force on Thursday but was delayed due to a last-minute glitch.

“The standoff will begin at 7:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) on Friday … and the first group of civilian hostages will be handed over at around 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT),” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said Thursday.

Thirteen people would initially be released, all women and children from the same families, Ansari said at a press conference in Doha.

Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons would also be released on Friday, he said, adding that a list of inmates’ names had been approved, without specifying the number.

Ansari said “the skies will be free of drones for a period of time” to “enable the release of the hostages in a safe environment.”

Israel and Hamas, which have been at war since October 7, announced a deal on Wednesday allowing the release of at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners during the ceasefire.

“Of course there will be a number of civilians every day, as agreed, a total of 50 over the four days,” the Qatari spokesman said.

“During these four days, information will be collected on the remaining hostages in order to examine the possibility of further release and thus an extension of the pause,” he added.

Commenting on the pause, Ansari said it meant “a complete ceasefire… without attacks from the air or ground,” adding that he hoped “there will be no violations.”

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The ceasefire agreement is intended to come into force in stages, which can be extended and expanded. It is also intended to provide aid to Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.

“The agreement remains in place and is consistent with the agreement,” Ansari said.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed on Thursday that a ceasefire would begin on Friday, accompanied by the “cessation of all military actions by the Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian resistance” during the ceasefire.

During the ceasefire it was said that 50 hostages – women and men aged 18 or younger – would be released, with three Palestinian prisoners released for each of them.

Hamas official Bassem Naim said the deal involved “marathon negotiations” that “represent an important step toward alleviating the suffering of our people.”

The release of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons would begin with those who have been imprisoned the longest, Naim said.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said Thursday that authorities were in contact with the families of all hostages held in Gaza after receiving “an initial list of names.”

It was not immediately specified who was on the list.

The agreement follows weeks of war in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants breached Gaza’s militarized border with Israel in an unprecedented attack on October 7.

Israeli officials say about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 240 were taken hostage.

Relentless Israeli bombardments and a ground invasion have since killed more than 14,000 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas government.