November 24, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The 11 foreign nationals who were released alongside the Israeli hostages on Friday have also returned to Israel, the Israeli military said.

CNN previously reported that the hostages released on Friday include 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens and 1 Filipino citizen, according to the Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

“The foreign nationals will meet their countries’ representatives at the Hatzerim Airbase, and will be transferred to the hospitals as well,” Hagari said.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on November 24.

The United Nations said Friday that 137 trucks with humanitarian goods were offloaded in Gaza on the first day of the pause in fighting, marking the largest aid convoy that has moved into the Gaza Strip since October 7. 

“During the humanitarian pause that has been in place since this morning, the UN was able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza,” a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

On Friday, 129,000 liters of fuel and four trucks of gas were also delivered to Gaza, OCHA said.

OCHA also announced that “21 critical patients were evacuated in a large-scale medical operation from the north of Gaza.” It is not clear where those patients were evacuated. 

The UN welcomed the initial release of 24 hostages held in Gaza and reaffirmed its call for an “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”  

“Humanitarian teams from the UN and partners will continue to ramp up humanitarian operations to meet the needs of people throughout Gaza in the coming days,” the statement said.

An Israeli prison transport vehicle is seen at Ofer prison on Friday, November 24.

Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners were released as part of the hostage agreement, the Israel Prison Service announced Friday night.

The Palestinian women and minors were released from three prisons — Damon, Megiddo and Ofer — according to the prison service. 

“Tonight we finished the first day of our mission to bring the hostages home. We will continue in the coming days to take any necessary action to support this national effort,” the head of the Israel Prison Service Katy Perry said in a statement.

A prison service spokesperson added:

Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed that Palestinian prisoners were released as part of the hostage agreement and are on their way to the West Bank. 

Crowds gathered in the Beituniya municipality in the West Bank and are awaiting the released Palestinians, CNN journalists witnessed. 

Videos circulating showed one released Palestinian prisoner, Marah Bakir, being greeted by her family in East Jerusalem.

Remember: Qatari officials have played a main mediating role in hostage deal negotiations.

The release of Israeli hostages and the start of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza sparked a range of emotions in Tel Aviv on Friday, and raised hopes for the families of those still held in the besieged enclave.

As officials announced that 13 Israeli hostages, along with 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino national had been freed by Hamas, a murmur rang through a crowd of hundreds who had gathered near Tel Aviv’s Museum of Art in an area that has gained the name “Hostages Square.” 

Tamar Shamir has been coming to the square for weeks to show her support to those still in Gaza, but she said more must be done. “We’re not happy, we cannot be happy until everyone comes back home,” she told CNN. 

The fragile truce will see the staggered release of 50 women and children held in Gaza out of more than 200 people Israel said were abducted when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. The deal also includes the release of 150 imprisoned Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails. 

Shamir said it was heart-breaking to think about young hostages. “The kids will come back and they won’t have a mom or dad – some are orphans,” she said.  

Israeli-American Michal Feuer.

Israeli-American Michal Feuer explained she was conflicted between the need to release all the hostages and “get rid of Hamas” as there was a “certain momentum” in the war, which is being damaged by the truce.

“I really feel for Palestinian civilians,” she said. “Most of them are innocent, but I don’t think we have a choice and I hope that, in the long run, they’ll have better lives for it as well” she said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address on Friday.

Hailing the release of Israeli hostages today, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he remains committed to securing the release of all those still held in Gaza.

International Red Cross vehicles transport freed hostages to the Rafah border crossing in Gaza, on November 24.

If Israel and Hamas can smoothly navigate freeing hostages in Gaza and Palestinians in Israeli custody on Friday, Matthew Chance, CNN’s chief global affairs correspondent, said it is a positive sign for the next several days ahead.

Negotiating and executing the freeing of hostages has been a “long and difficult logistical operation,” he said.

So what happens to the released hostages now? The 13 Israeli hostages as well as 11 other foreign nations are now back in Israel. There, they will be given medical assessments and have access to things like food, showers and a change of clothes, he said.

Once that processing is complete, the freed hostages will board helicopters at the Hatzerim Airbase to go to specific hospitals across the country, based on their needs, Chance reported from the Israeli airbase.

Buses reported to be carrying the 39 Palestinian women and teenagers being released as part of the hostage agreement have been seen leaving Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

The head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority, Qadura Fares, said buses carrying the prisoners were on their way to Ramallah.

Earlier Friday, a CNN team outside of the prison witnessed clashes between the Israeli military and some Palestinians.

The prime minister’s office in Israel has released a list of 13 hostages freed on Friday:

The office also said that 11 foreign nationals were released today. Qatar’s foreign ministry had earlier confirmed that 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino citizen were released along with the 13 Israelis.

Remember: These hostages have been released as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, which involves a four-day truce. A total of 50 hostages will be freed over the four-day pause in flighting, while Palestinian prisoners are also due to be released in waves. An Israeli official said a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be freed in return on Friday.

The released hostages are now in Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday. 

They have undergone an initial medical assessment, it added.

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, are currently with the released hostages, according to the statement. As they head to Israeli hospitals, IDF soldiers will accompany the hostages, the statement added.

The IDF “reiterates the importance of demonstrating patience and sensitivity during this time out of respect for the released hostages and their families,” it said.

This post has been updated with the IDF’s statement.

Members of the Israeli military clash with Palestinians outside Ofer prison on November 24.

A CNN team outside Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank witnessed clashes between the Israeli military and some Palestinians ahead of the expected release of 39 Palestinian women and teenagers.

The Israel Defense Forces used tear gas in an effort to disperse dozens of Palestinians who came to the site, some of whom were throwing rocks. Among the crowds were family members of the 39 set to be released.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said a 16-year-old boy, as well as a 12-year-old child, had been shot and injured during the disturbances.

CNN is reaching out to the IDF for comment on the incidents.

The 24 hostages released include 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens and 1 Filipino citizen, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari.

Egypt and Thailand initially said 12 Thai citizens would be released.

Qatari officials have played a main mediating role in hostage deal negotiations.

Families of the hostages and others watch news broadcasts as hostages are released into Egypt before being brought into Israel by the ICRC, outside the Museum of Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 24.

Twenty-four people are in the group of hostages released Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The Red Cross did not say how many of the freed hostages were from Israel and how many were from Thailand.

Israel previously said 13 Israeli hostages would be released and the Thai prime minister said 12 Thai hostages had been freed – a total of 25. The reason for the discrepancy in the numbers was not immediately clear, and the ICRC did not provide the breakdown of the nationalities.

International Red Cross vehicles cross the Rafah border point in Gaza on the way to Egypt on November 24.

The Red Cross convoy entering the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt contained at least four vehicles — each with up to six people sitting in the rear. 

Pictures from the scene showed at least one woman with white hair waving in the back seat of her vehicle, and another vehicle that appeared to have several Thai men sitting in the back.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed this morning and continues to regularly be updated on hostage recovery efforts, a source familiar tells CNN.

Biden told reporters Thursday he would speak about the situation on Friday, pending a successful initial release.

There are no public events currently on his schedule.

A Red Cross vehicle arrives at the Rafah border amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel as seen from Gaza on November 24.

A convoy of Red Cross vehicles entered the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt Friday night, live pictures from the crossing showed. 

A significant amount of preparation is underway at a children’s hospital in Israel where released hostages could be sent to, according to CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, who is outside of the hospital.

Mothers and children who are released will not be separated if brought to the hospital for shelter, she reported. Staff there say the main objective is for the hospital not to look or feel sterile, intimidating or frightening, Ward reported.

Each group of hostages who end up at the hospital will have their own social worker appointed to them, Ward reports.

Watch more from the report:

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02:42 - Source: CNN

A person walks past a tent with faces of child hostages near Sarona on November 24, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs has released detailed instructions outlining how to care for released child hostages, ahead of the release of the first group of hostages later Friday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops have been advised on how to introduce themselves to the children – who have been held hostage in Gaza for nearly seven weeks – and how to interact with them following their release, before they are admitted to hospitals.

The guidelines, released ahead of the truce, advise that each child or each family unit should be assigned a soldier and that soldiers should ask the children for permission before touching or picking up the child.

The instructions stress the importance of building routine including rest, balanced meals and moderate physical activity outdoors in the first week, as well as creating open spaces for dialogue about what the child has experienced.

A source familiar with the preparations told CNN all hostages will receive noise-canceling headphones to provide “peace and quiet” during the helicopter flight.

On board each helicopter will be a medical team including a commander, three combat soldiers and two doctors, the source said.

The personnel have been advised to introduce themselves by name with a visible face and a smile, maintain eye contact and distance in order to allow the caregivers and support teams to do their work in the best possible way, the source added.

Preparations completed: The IDF said it was ready to receive hostages later Friday and that it had prepared “several locations” dedicated to the initial reception of those released.

The IDF said that “after the initial reception and medical treatment, the released hostages will continue to hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families.”

White House officials are monitoring the transfer of hostages taking place right now in real time, sources say.

There has been heavy emphasis put on a successful first day of the hostage release, as US officials believe that will help pave the way for the next several days going smoothly. 

Americans are not expected to be among the first 13 hostages released today. 

All 13 Israeli hostages have been released, the Israel Prime Minister’s office has said.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he received confirmation of the release of 12 Thai nationals from Gaza.

“I have received confirmation from our national security team and ministry of foreign affairs that 12 Thai hostages have been released. Our RTE staffs are on their way to receive them,” Thavisin said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.

RTE refers to Royal Thai Embassy.  

“We should know more about their names and details, please stay tuned,” Thavisin added.

This comes after Egypt had said earlier that the 12 Thai nationals who are held by Hamas will be released in addition to the 13 hostages due to be released on Friday.

The Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza is being prepared to receive hostages released by Hamas in preparation for their transfer to the Israeli side, the head of the state information service Diaa Rashwan had said in a statement.

Hamas is due to release 13 Israelis hostages from the October 7 attack at any moment, under the terms of an agreement announced by Qatar on Friday.

A soldier stands guard outside the Hatzerim Air Base near Beersheba in Israel's southern district on November 24.

Israeli helicopters carrying hostages released by Hamas are expected to land later Friday at Hatzerim Air Base, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

While all “is going to plan” with the exchange of hostages and prisoners as of mid-afternoon local time, the exact timings of the arrival of the Israeli hostages is still unclear, an Israeli official told CNN.

Hatzerim is about 50 kilometers (or about 31 miles) east of Gaza, close to the Israeli city of Beersheva.

Israeli military police guard the entrance to Ofer Israeli military prison on November 24.

Hamas published the names of Palestinian prisoners expected to be in the first batch released from Israeli jails on Friday.

The list has 39 names — 24 women and 15 minors. The majority of the people on the list are from the occupied West Bank.

CNN previously reported the numbers on the list.

The prisoners are being moved from two jails — Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa – and driven to the Ofer prison, south of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross, an Israeli official told CNN Thursday. 

Some background: Around 8,300 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israeli jails, said Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs.

More than 3,000 of them are being held in what Israel calls “administrative detention,” Fares told CNN, adding that this means they are being held without knowing the charges against them, and without an ongoing legal process.

Israel has stepped up its arrests since Hamas’ attacks on October 7. Up to 2,070 arrests were documented in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in that month alone, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a non-governmental organization dedicated to addressing the concerns of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. That figure includes 145 children and 55 women.

Professionals will have to “pretty quickly” share relevant information with the hostages released from Gaza about what has happened to their families and communities once they return to Israel, a representative with Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs said Friday.

An initial group of 13 hostages – expected to be women and children – are set to be released at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), while an Israeli official said a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be freed in return on Friday.

More will follow, with a total of 50 hostages to be freed over the four days, while Palestinian prisoners are also due to be released in waves.

Just after 7 a.m. local time Friday, the skies over Gaza fell quiet for the first time in nearly seven weeks. The truce agreement – brokered through painstaking negotiations – appears to be holding, CNN journalists in southern Israel close to the Gaza Strip have reported.

Now, the world is waiting to see if the second part of the truce agreement – the release of civilian hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel – will also be observed.

An initial group of 13 hostages – expected to be women and children – are set to be released at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Under the Israel-Hamas agreement, a total of 50 women and children are expected to be freed in a release staggered over four days, while there is a pause in fighting. In return, Israel is set to release 39 Palestinian prisoners – also expected to be women and children.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the north of the Strip – but who had fled south to avoid the worst of the fighting – are reportedly attempting to return to their homes now the truce has begun.

Here are the latest developments:

American citizens are not expected to be among the first group of hostages released Friday, a US official tells CNN.

The official added they remain hopeful that there will be Americans among the initial 50.

The first hostage release from Gaza is scheduled to take place later today, when 13 women and children held captive in Gaza are expected to be freed, mediators in Qatar have said.

A Palestinian man who was stranded in Egypt due to the Israel-Hamas conflict is welcomed upon his arrival, during a temporary truce, at the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza on November 24.

At least 67 Palestinians who have been stuck in Egypt since fighting began on October 7 crossed back into Gaza on Friday, hours after the truce went into effect.

The Palestinian embassy in Cairo said Thursday that Palestinians stuck in the Sinai Peninsula will be allowed to cross to Gaza on Friday. Other Palestinians elsewhere in parts of Egypt will be allowed to cross to Gaza from Saturday if they wish, the embassy added.

Zeinat Al-Gindy, who had traveled to Egypt for medical treatment before the war started, spoke to CNN shortly before she went through the Rafah border crossing. 

A young man who declined to give his name he wants to return home even if there is little left of it.

The head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, Qadura Fares, told CNN 24 women and 15 children are expected to be released later Friday as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas.

An Israeli official told CNN Thursday a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released Friday, in exchange for the initial release of 13 civilian hostages held by Hamas.

Fares said the identities of those who will be among the released is not known yet.

Talal Sayyad, the uncle of Israa Jaabis, speaks to CNN from his home in East Jerusalem on Thursday. 

A Palestinian family says there will be “no celebrations” over the potential release of their family member on Friday because of the “high price” of bloodshed in Gaza.

Talal Sayyad is the uncle of Israa Jaabis, who is among the 300 Palestinian women and children listed for possible release from Israeli detention as part of the Israel-Hamas truce agreement. From his home in East Jerusalem, Sayyad spoke of the “muted happiness” he felt over the possibility of his niece being freed.

Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners are set to be released later Friday as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas, according to an Israeli official, in exchange for the release of an initial group of 13 hostages taken by Hamas.

The Qatari-brokered truce, which began on Friday morning, marks the first sustained break in hostilities after nearly seven weeks, which began when Hamas massacred 1,200 civilians on October 7.

Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run health authorities in the enclave.

His niece, Jaabis, is a 38-year-old woman who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2015 after Israel accused her of attempted murder when her car blew up at a checkpoint, a charge she and her family have continuously denied.

She and her family say she was carrying gas canisters in her car that exploded due to a technical fault. Jaabis sustained first- and third-degree burns on 60% of her body; eight of her fingers were melted to stubs and had to be amputated. Her family said her injuries became worse because she did not receive adequate medical treatment.

The majority of those eligible for release are male Palestinians aged between 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – while a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 people on the list are women, according to a CNN count.

The list includes the ages of the prisoners, and the charges on which they are being held – throwing stones and “harming regional security” are among the most common.

Others are listed as detained for supporting illegal terror organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement, and at least two accusations of attempted murder.

Some of the people are listed as being members of Hamas and other Islamic militant groups, but many of the prisoners are not listed as belonging to any organization.

Displaced Palestinians attempting to return to homes in northern Gaza were allegedly blocked by Israeli forces, a journalist told CNN.

Residents of Gaza began moving across parts of the Strip after a truce between Israel and Hamas seemingly began Friday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned residents against attempting to travel from the south to the north, where combat between Hamas and Israel has been concentrated.

Social media videos showed people running away amid the sound of gunfire, presumed to be Israeli, on Salah Al-Din street. A journalist told CNN that Israeli tanks were seen and gunfire could be heard on Salah Al-Din street.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on whether people attempting to enter north were fired upon.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza said two people were killed and others injured as a result of Israeli gunfire. CNN could not independently verify the circumstances behind the deaths and injuries, and whether it was related to the incident on Salah Al-Din Street.

Two residents told Al-Jazeera in live interviews from Wadi Gaza that they were trying to get home between the central and northern parts of the strip to check on their houses and belongings, which they had evacuated.

The IDF called on residents to use the time to “stock up on needs and arrange affairs” instead of travelling to the north.

The only movement allowed in the north would be for residents evacuating to the south, the IDF said. It’s unclear how many people still reside in the north, but Palestinian data claims hundreds of thousands remain.

“We call on you not to approach the military forces or the areas north of Wadi Gaza. Use the time to stock up on needs and arrange your affairs. The northern Gaza Strip is a combat zone and staying there is prohibited,” the IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

Still, the truce largely seemed to hold, with no sign of significant fighting or airstrikes across Gaza.

The constant sound of overhead military drones quietened for the first time since October 7 – the day Hamas brutally assaulted Israeli cities killing more than 1,200 people – the largest such attack on Israel since the country’s founding in 1948.

Gazans in Khan Younis took advantage of the four-day truce to take to the streets, drone footage published by Reuters showed. Al-Jazeera footage showed hundreds on the streets of Al Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Zeinat Al-Gindy traveled to Egypt for medical treatment before the war.

At least 60 Palestinians who had been stranded in Egypt since October 7 have gathered at the Rafah border crossing hoping to return home during the pause in fighting.

People gather at Rafah Crossing in Egypt.

Pushing trolleys laden with suitcases, they arrived at the crossing hoping to return home after nearly seven weeks of fighting. Zeinat Al-Gindy, who had traveled to Egypt for medical treatment before the war, was desperate to return to her family. 

The Chairman of Egypt’s State Information Service said in a statement Friday morning that Palestinians would be allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt for the first time since the war began.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egyp on Friday, November 24.

At least 90 aid trucks have so far entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Friday, an Egyptian official at the border told CNN. 

The official said those trucks were among the 200 aid trucks that had entered the Egyptian side of the crossing on Friday morning. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that its teams received two ambulances and 85 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent on Friday.

The trucks contain food, water, relief supplies, medical supplies, and medications.

Trucks carrying fuel begin crossing into Gaza Strip through Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Friday, November 24.

At least seven fuel trucks entered Gaza from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Friday, according to a CNN stringer on the ground, after the anticipated truce between Israel and Hamas seemed to be taking hold.

Trucks carrying aid also appeared to have begun moving into Gaza from the Rafah border, according to live video from Reuters.

A large convoy of aid trucks had lined up at the border crossing on standby ahead of the truce, which appeared to have gone into effect after 7 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET).

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement that four fuel tankers and four tankers carrying cooking gas crossed into Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

“The fuel and cooking gas are designated for operating essential humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza” and was approved by the Israeli government as part of the truce, COGAT added.

It’s not clear exactly what other types of aid have so far been allowed into the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday that it destroyed a number of tunnels in the Al-Shifa Hospital area in Gaza City and completed “operational preparations” ahead of the agreed truce.

The Israeli military destroyed “a route of underground tunnels and a number of tunnel shafts in the area of the Shifa Hospital,” according to the IDF statement.

“The IDF has completed its operational preparations according to the combat lines of the pause.”

The statement added that Israeli troops had continued to strike targets “over the last day and night” ahead of the truce, without specifying the number of attacks. 

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it welcomes the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas but hopes its own citizens held by militants in Gaza can return home soon.

Militants are holding more than 200 people captive inside Gaza from mass abductions that were part of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, according to figures from the Israeli military.

Under terms previously announced by mediators in Qatar, a total of 50 of those hostages, women and children, are expected to be freed over a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting beginning Friday.

Among many of the foreign nationals kidnapped and being held hostage in Gaza are migrant laborers from Asian countries such as Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines – many of whom were working in Israel’s southern district near the Gaza Strip, and unprotected, when Hamas launched its surprise terror attack.

At least 39 Thais have been killed in the conflict with 26 held as hostages, according to figures released by the Thai government.

A displaced Palestinian man, who fled his house for safety, carries his belongings as he makes his way back to his home, during the temporary truce. in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza, on Friday, Novemeber 24.

The Israeli military has told people in southern Gaza not to move north, with its forces restricting travel from the north to the south to only one road.

“It is only possible to move from the north of the Strip to its south via Salah Eddine Road. The movement of the residents from the south of the Strip to the north will not be allowed in any way,” Israel Defense Forces Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media platform X.

Flyers were also allegedly dropped by the Israeli military over parts of the Gaza Strip with the notice, according to video shared from the city of Khan Younis and people on social media sharing photos of the flyers. 

A truck of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) carrying fuel arrives at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on November 22. 

Some 130,000 liters of diesel fuel and four trucks of gas will enter Gaza from Egypt daily starting Friday, according to an Egyptian official.

“Two hundred trucks, loaded with food, medicine and water, will enter daily for the first time since the start of the Israeli war on the strip,” Diaa Rashwan, the chairman of Egypt’s State Information Service, said in a statement on Friday. 

Rashwan said that Egypt would continue to receive groups of injured people from Gaza for treatment and facilitate the evacuation of foreigners and dual nationals who had been stuck in the territory. 

He also said that for the first time since the start of the conflict, Egypt would allow in Palestinians who wished to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

A convoy of Israeli military tanks and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) enter Israel on November 24.

A truce between Israel and Hamas appears to be taking effect, despite what sounded like sporadic Israeli artillery fire and sirens warning of rockets from Gaza in the minutes after it was due to begin. 

CNN journalists in the southern Israel city of Sderot said the sounds of heavy weapons fire stopped around 7:18 a.m. local time (12:18 a.m. ET). 

They heard what sounded like small arms fire inside Gaza about 20 minutes later, but artillery fire, airstrikes and rockets appear to have stopped. 

Maya Roman-Gat speaks during an interview with CNN.

Maya Roman-Gat, whose cousin Yarden Roman has been held by Hamas since the October 7 attacks, told CNN that she hopes the first hostage deal will lead to more of them being released.

Roman-Gat said the family was notified on Thursday that Yarden would not be among the first group released, but may be part of a later group.

To their family “any deal is important because we believe that one deal can lead to another,” Roman-Gat said.

Palestinians walk through the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli strike in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on November 23.

Shortly before the anticipated truce was due to come into effect, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reaffirmed on Friday that the “war is not over yet” and that northern Gaza remains a “dangerous war zone.”  

The spokesperson urged people in Gaza to remain in the south of the strip.

Sirens warning of potential incoming rockets sounded in Israeli communities near Gaza about 15 minutes after the expected start time of a truce between Israel and Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday. 

It was not immediately clear if there were any impacts or interceptions. 

A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas is due to take effect Friday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET), after Qatar helped broker a deal to free hostages held in Gaza since October 7.

Smoke seen from Israel, rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza, on Friday, November 24.

A CNN team in the southern Israel city of Sderot says they have continued to hear “loud booms” that sound like Israeli artillery fire landing in Gaza, up to 15 minutes after the expected start time of a truce between Israel and Hamas.

The sounds of activity are winding down but have not entirely subsided, according to CNN’s Jeremy Diamond and Matthias Somm.

The sounds appear consistent with outgoing artillery.

At the same time, smoke continues to rise from the direction of Gaza — as it has in the hour leading up to the expected truce. The cause of the smoke is unknown. 

The agreed truce between Israel and Hamas is due to come into effect, as clocks in Israel strike 7 a.m. Friday (midnight ET).

The expected pause in hostilities comes on the 49th day of war.

Families and friends of hostages held in Gaza call for Netanyahu to bring them home during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on November 21.

In the first release of Hamas’ hostages held in Gaza, scheduled for Friday afternoon local time, 13 women and children will be freed, according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.

Al-Ansari could not provide details on who the hostages are, nor could he provide details on the route they might take due to safety reasons. However, many of the first 50 hostages are expected to come out through Egypt.

The Israeli government said their families and the families of hostages who will not be released had been notified. Al-Ansari also revealed that hostages from the same families will be released together in the first group.

Meanwhile, an Israeli official tells CNN a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released Friday as part of the deal.

The timing of the release is unclear, but the Israeli official said the prisoners would not be freed until the hostages from Gaza are back in Israeli hands.

The prisoners will be taken from two jails — Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa — and driven to the Ofer prison, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross.

Women and male teenagers up to the age of 18 are expected to make up the released prisoners.

Here’s what else you should know:

Two more months of fighting: Israel’s defense minister says he expects the military operation against Hamas will continue “forcefully” after the brief truce, for at least two months.

No names of Palestinian prisoners: A Palestinian official told CNN he has not yet received a list of names of those expected to be released from Israeli prisons on Friday.

Biden hopeful 3-year-old American freed: US President Joe Biden said he has his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old American girl held hostage by Hamas will be freed on Friday. But he said he will not provide further updates until the deal is finished.

US will contact American hostage families: The US will contact family members of American hostages who are freed from Gaza “after we have confirmation they are departing Gaza,” a US official said.

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired 48 rockets at the headquarters of an Israeli infantry unit at Ein Zeitim military base earlier Thursday. In a statement, Hezbollah said it also fired a guided missile at Israeli Merkava tanks located near Al-Raheb, near the Israeli town of Shtula, and targeted Israeli infantry forces in the area.

The Israel Defense Forces said it “intercepted a number of the launches,” and later confirmed that it used helicopters and fighter jets to strike Hezbollah infrastructure and rocket launch sites in Lebanon, in response to the militant group’s attacks.

Medical aid group says 80 aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says it received 80 trucks that entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Thursday. The trucks brought food, water, medical equipment, medications and general relief equipment into Gaza, the PRCS said.

A large convoy of aid trucks is lined up at the Rafah border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border — on standby for when a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas begins. The United Nations anticipates that aid trucks will move into the strip “immediately” after the Israel-Hamas truce commences, an official told CNN on Thursday.  

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike as flares are dropped over northern Gaza on November 22.

The number of people killed in Gaza from Israeli attacks since October 7 now stands at 14,854, including 5,850 children, according to information from Hamas authorities in the strip.

Getting up-to-date information on the number of fatalities in Gaza has become harder as Israel’s massive air and ground campaign grinds on.

On Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, which takes its data from hospitals and other sources in the Gaza Strip, put the number killed at 12,700.

In health updates since then, the Ramallah-based ministry said serious disruptions to communications networks in Gaza have made its own efforts at accurate data collection impossible.

The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which collects and audits data from across the occupied Palestinian territories, has continued to cite the figures originating from Gaza.

On Wednesday, UN OCHA chief Martin Griffiths told CNN the UN stood by its use of statistics from the Health Ministry in Gaza, saying his team had “triangulated [the numbers] over the years to make sure we feel confident about them.”

“We don’t put these figures out without thought,” he said.

Palestinians walk through the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli strike in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on November 23.

Palestinians in Deir Al Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip, expressed hope for an end to the hostilities ahead of an expected truce beginning Friday.

“We hope for a truce, we are tired. The people of Gaza are tired,” said one woman who had fled south from Gaza City, the focus of Israel’s massive air and ground campaign.

A man told CNN he had fled to Deir Al Balah from the Al Shati refugee camp, located just north of Gaza City. He, too, said he wanted an end to the constant state of anxiety.

“[A truce] will be a good beginning, and the fear in us will go away,” he said.

All the people CNN spoke to talked on condition of anonymity.

Another man similarly addressed the mental respite a truce would provide.

“If there is a truce, we will be mentally relieved; the truce is a mental comfort,” he said.

A third man told CNN he hoped the truce would see an increase in aid entering the Strip — as the terms of the agreement lay out — as well as the restoration of electricity.

He expressed hope the four-day pause would become something permanent and that the war would end.

“We hope they will reach an agreement and that it will be an agreement that allows us to hold our head high,” he said.

Yoav Gallant visits the 91st Division's base in northern Israel, on November 11.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel’s military operation against Hamas will continue “forcefully” after the brief truce beginning Friday, and that the fighting is expected to go on for at least two more months. 

“A fighting of at least two more months is expected,” he added.

A tenuous agreement: The Israeli military has said the hostage handover process will be “complicated,” warning there could be changes in the deal at any moment.   

He said the Israeli army continues to fight in the Gaza Strip “at this hour,” pointing out that once the pause goes into effect, the IDF soldiers will be stationed along the “truce lines” established inside the strip. 

The truce line effectively keeps Israeli troops in northern Gaza, and they won’t move south during the pause in fighting, an IDF spokesperson told CNN.

This post has been updated with comments from an Israeli military spokesperson on the state of the hostage deal and fighting in Gaza.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond in Sderot and Sugam Pokharel in London contributed reporting to this post.

US President Joe Biden crosses his fingers while responding to a question about the release of Hamas hostages after a visit to the Nantucket Fire Department on Thanksgiving today in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

US President Joe Biden told reporters he has his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old American girl being held hostage in Gaza will be among those released Friday in the Israel-Hamas hostage deal — but that he will not be providing any updates until the deal is finished.

“I’ll be able to talk to you guys tomorrow,” he told the traveling media pool in Nantucket, Massachusetts, after greeting first responders. “I’m not prepared to give you an update until it’s done.” 

When asked about Abigail Edan, the 3-year-old hostage, he said: “Keeping my fingers crossed.”

The president also said he won’t give up until he has freed other Americans held abroad, like Paul Whelan, the former United States Marine, and Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter, who are being held in Russia. The US classifies both as being wrongfully detained.