Israel and Hamas have entered a four-day truce with the Palestinian fighters set to release a first group of hostages later in the day and increased aid to flow into the besieged Gaza Strip — the first pause in a nearly seven-week-old escalation.

According to Reuters, the truce’s scheduled start was 7am (10am Pakistan time). A number of Palestinians are expected to be released from Israeli jails later in the day as part of the ceasefire.