Israel Hamas War : Israel Says No Gaza Captive Release Before Friday

Israeli official says no Gaza captives will be released before Friday as part of Qatar-mediated truce agreement. Families of Israeli captives express frustration at delay in truce, blame government for lack of information. Israel continues deadly air attacks and heavy shelling across Palestinian enclave as it remains unclear when an expected, four-day pause in fighting will begin.

A ceasefire agreement between the Hamas group and Israel has been confirmed by both parties, along with Washington and Qatar, which helped broker the deal that would bring a temporary halt to the devastating war that is now in its seventh week.

The Israeli government said that under an outline of the deal, Hamas is to free over a four-day period at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages taken in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Israel is to release some Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

Israeli PM Netanyahu renews warning that war will continue, promising to bring all Israeli captives home. More than 14,500 people killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at about 1,200.

We have received reports of new casualties after Israeli forces targeted a number of homes in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The number of casualties was not immediately known. Jabalia is one of the hardest hit areas of the besieged Palestinian enclave, and hundreds have been killed there since Israel began its war on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.