The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Friday at 7am, ahead of the expected release of the first group of Israeli hostages held by the militant Islamist organisation in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, writes The Guardian.

Underlining the fragility of the four day pause in hostilities, an alert sounded in Israel at 7.15am local time warning of a possible incoming rocket from Gaza targeting a village in southern Israel.

The diplomatic breakthrough, delayed by 24 hours, marks the first pause in seven weeks of war in Gaza and offers some relief both for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the territory who have endured intensive Israeli bombardment, and for families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during the bloody attack launched last month by Hamas that triggered the conflict.

Officials in Qatar, which has played a key role as an intermediary, said an operations room their will monitor the truce and the release of hostages from Gaza. They have direct and real-time lines of communication with Israel, the Hamas political office in Doha and the ICRC, Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Ansari said.

The truce, initially lasting four or five days, was announced early on Wednesday after days of speculation and has raised hopes for a more durable pause in the violence.

Ansari said the two sides had exchanged lists of those to be released, and the first group of hostages held by Hamas – 13 women and children – would be freed on Friday afternoon. Ansari did not specify how many Palestinian women and children will be released on Friday or when this would take place

Increased aid for Palestinians would start to enter “as soon as possible”, Ansari said.

Under the agreement, Hamas will free at least 50 of the more than 240 mostly Israeli hostages it has held since launching bloody attacks into southern Israel on 7 October. In turn, Israel will release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow up to 300 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza which has endured heavy fighting and a crippling blockade of fuel, food, medicine and other essentials.