Hostage release under truce deal not before Friday, says top Netanyahu aide

In a major announcement, a top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the highly anticipated release of the first group of 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas as part of a hostage deal would not take place on Thursday, as previously announced, but only on Friday, Times of Israel reported.

National Security Council chairman Tzachi Hanegbi circulated a statement that said the negotiations for the hostages "are constantly progressing" and "the release will begin according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday."

Haaretz reported citing an Israeli source that the four-day lull in fighting, per the deal, would be on hold and that Israeli military operations in Gaza would continue as long as the agreement is not finalized.

The delay is a blow to families who are desperate to see their abducted children, spouses, daughters, and sisters return after close to 50 days as Hamas hostages.

The deal set to unfold, as detailed by Israel's cabinet, would trade 50 living Israeli hostages -- children, their mothers, and other women in groups of 12-13 people -- for a four-day lull in fighting and the release of up to 150 Palestinian female and underage prisoners. It is a first since the ongoing war started after the October 7 attacks, Times of Israel reported.

On the same day, more than 240 were abducted to the Gaza Strip by the terror group and other Palestinian factions.

If the deal is successfully completed, it would be the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted last month.

According to the deal, if Hamas is able to locate additional hostages who are either minors or female non-combatants to release, the deal can be extended to up to 10 days, with one extra day's pause in the fighting for every 10 hostages released. Three additional Palestinian prisoners would be released for each hostage freed.

Times of Israel reported citing Israeli estimates that Hamas holds a total of 98 women and children, 40 of whom are under the age of 19. At first, Hamas had more than 100 living women and children, but after the murders of Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano in captivity, that number dropped. In addition, the terror group released four women, and a fifth was liberated in Israeli military operation.

Meanwhile, Israel also fears that Hamas may violate the agreed halt in fighting, and fire upon soldiers in areas of northern Gaza controlled by the IDF, Times of Israel reported citing senior Israeli official.

Israel intends to use the pause in fighting in order to plan for the war's next steps, including to ensure as many hostages as possible are brought home, the official said.