The plan is for Hamas to hand the abductees to the Red Cross, which will deliver them to the Israeli military in Gaza. The hostages will be evacuated to hospitals.

The truce aims to halt Israeli strikes that have killed more than 46,800 Palestinians and laid waste to the enclave, plus see the gradual release of hostages held in captivity for 15 months.

The truce between Israel and Hamas was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time. The first Israeli hostages were to be released hours later in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.