As Israel approved a four-day truce with Hamas to facilitate the release of Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the Arab militant group designated by several Western countries as a terrorist organization claimed that the pause in the fighting would begin soon.
The Times of Israel cited an Al Jazeera interview with Hamas top official Moussa Abu Marzouk on Wednesday (November 22), who said that the truce would enter into force at 10:00 local time on Thursday (08:00 UTC, November 23).
Qatar's foreign ministry first announced the truce, the Associated Press added.
Hostage Deal Discrepancies
According to the agreed-upon terms, which the Israeli war cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved overnight, at least 50 of the approximately 240 hostages Hamas abducted on October 7 - mostly women and children - would be released in exchange for 150 underage and female Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Abu Marzouk said that most of the hostages slated to be released have foreign citizenship, without specifying if they also held Israeli passports.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israeli authorities regarding Hamas's claims.
Earlier in the discussions, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned that the potential deal would end in a "disaster." He added that the deal would prevent Israel from continuing the war after at least four days, noting that past prisoner releases have allowed terrorists to return to battle while incentivizing more hostage-taking.
