The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades,confirmed that a truce with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip would “begin on Friday at 7:00am”, AFP reports.

“The truce applies for four days, starting from Friday morning, accompanied by the cessation of all military actions from the Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian resistance, as well as the Zionist enemy throughout the truce period.”

Over the four days, it said 50 hostages — women and males aged 18 or under — would be freed, with three Palestinian prisoners to be released for each of them.