this royals military operation of course prompted by the hamas terror attacks back in october, that killed around 1200 israelis in foreign nationals. it could take some time before we know how successful this pause in fighting will be. qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson says that the aim is for a lasting truce that would extend beyond four days, and lead to negotiations to end the violence. the israeli government said earlier this week, an extra day could be added to the pause in fighting for every ten additional hostages released. meanwhile, the israeli military kept up the bombardment of gaza in the hours leading up to the truce. cnn crews witnessed explosions across the border, from their vantage point in southern israel. and israeli defense minister -- said the military campaign could go forcefully for at least two months more after this pause. i asked qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson -- of course qatar has mediated these talks, at this negotiation. i asked -- what would constitute a breach of this truce. this is what he told me. >> i don't think i can get into the technicalities, it technically on the ground of, course this will be handled by people on the ground. but i can tell you the agreement is about full secession of hostilities, so obviously any resumption of hostilities of any kind would be very important that lines of communication remain open so that any possible -- however it is defined is communicated immediately to both side and there is a way to walk back and make sure we continue. >> well let's bring in cnn's jeremy diamond live at this hour in -- israel. it is at this hour, jeremy, that if the guns are expected to go silent. what can you see and hear at this point? >> well, thank you. just as we were coming to, me i just heard another loud boom. we are still hearing what sounds like artillery. these are the kinds of sounds we have been hearing throughout this war. we are still hearing them with less frequency, but up until seven a.m. we were hearing a very steady drumbeat of small arms fire, artillery fire, perhaps even tank fire as well. when the clock struck seven, those sounds did not stop altogether. i'm still hearing some boom in the distance coming from inside the gaza strip. you can see behind me here, there is some smoke in the distance, and you are still hearing them. i don't know if you hear it through my microphone, becky, but it is remarkable. we are four minutes into what was supposed to be the beginning of this truce between israel and hamas, and the fighting does not seem to have stopped altogether. and so that raises enormous questions obviously about whether or not this truce between israel and hamas will indeed go forward, if it is just fire that is going to be accepted, or disregarded by one or the other side. the big question, especially as the lives of these hostages, the possibility of them to get out of gaza, to come back to their families rests on this question of whether israel and hamas are able to respect this truce. >> four minutes in. you hear the sound of boom. i had asked the spokesperson from the qatar foreign ministry, who was talking about video just yesterday, what a breach would look or sound like. he said this is about stopping the hostilities on the ground completely. that is not from your vantage point what is happening as we speak. >> that is right, just as you are speaking, becky, another loud boom in the distance in trying to see if there's any impact from that, any particular smoke, that we are hearing of the sounds of war, and we are not supposed to be hearing the sounds of war after 7 am local time. so again it raises enormous questions about the viability of this truce. again we want to be super cautious about attributing the sounds of the fire, but in my mind the sounds i'm hearing sound very much like the artillery fire we have been hearing constantly for weeks and weeks now. >> and as you are speaking, we have brought out the live pictures over gaza. jen -- there is smoke. i want to bring you back in momentarily, jeremy, jeremy diamond is in israel for the time being. here is what we know about that deal than to exchange hostages and prisoners, and israeli official says a total of 39 palestinian prisoners will be released on friday but not until a group of 13 women and children hostages from gaza are back in israeli hands. the israeli government has notified families of the first group of hostages set to be released on friday. the u.s. says it will contact families of americans released after it has confirmation they are departing gaza. among the ten americans being held in gaza, three-year-old abigail -- u.s. presidential biden said on thursday, that he has his fingers crossed that this little girl will be released. qatar says it will be receiving a list of hostages to be freed on a day-by-day basis, in a day by day process. israel will also -- israel expected to hand over a list of palestinian prisoners expected to be released. here is the founder of the hostage families form in new york speaking on thursday. >> i think that every so we managed to bring back, that every person in the whole world, so one person we can get out of there, and it is amazing and it is the good news we are waiting for for six weeks we have only bad news, and only hard times. but are we still remember and understand that they struggle is we will have to help the one to come back, and hopefully we will see them come back to recover and return to normal life as much as possible. we will have to keep fighting for the rest of them, because hamas is not planning on opening the gates and letting people, go it doesn't matter if they are, israeli american, or canadian, or -- it does not matter. they took innocent people. later innocent people from their houses. in a vicious attack, they are highly devoted to bringing each and every one of them home. >> one of the scheduled release for the first 13 hostages is four pm this afternoon and is seven i am on the ground at this point. so there is some hours between now when the fighting was supposed to stop and the scheduled release of those first hostages. this is a war zone. don't expect things to necessarily go buy the book. the u.n. anticipates that trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid will move into gaza immediately once this truce begins. dozens of trucks lined up on the egyptian side of the rafah border crossing on thursday, ahead of the expected truce. the u.n. is sending food, water, fuel, and everyday items meanwhile the international rescue committee welcomed the pause in fighting, versus the agreed upon four-day not enough time to address, quote, catastrophic levels of humanitarian need. let's get you to jerusalem where -- 's communication adviser for the norwegian refugee council standing by. let's start with what we know at president. this truce was expected to go into effect have the top of this hour, and while i was talking to my colleague on the israel gaza border, it was clear you could still hear the sounds of war behind. we witnessed smoke rising over gaza, that suggests that there is still activity on the ground. you must be as so many people will be hoping that this truce does hold. what we are seeing on the ground there is not a breach of this pause, this humanitarian pause. explain why that is? why it is so important that this works at this point? >> it has been almost seven weeks of hostilities in gaza. a huge portion of the gaza strip's just leveled. at least 60% of buildings are damaged or destroyed. we have 1.7 million internally displaced people. the humanitarian needs or so vast. we and our colleagues in gaza, our partner organizations we work with, have been desperate to scale up our responses which have been limited due to the goods available inside of gaza, and the ongoing hostilities. so this pause in the fighting, we are planning and will take advantage of. we desperately are pushing that this pause be extended, and build up to a long term sustainable cease-fire. it is so easy to destroy things, and to build things back up, it is going to take so much longer than it took to destroy them. we now have seven weeks of hostilities that we need to address the results of. >> let's just be quite clear, for those who may be joining, us this truth was supposed to go into effect in the gaza strip at seven a.m., it is 7:12 a.m. at present, and there is evidence of some lingering activity i have to say that was just after the top of the hour that we saw that it does at least from this viewpoint look as if it may have stopped. but we will keep you on this picture as we talk to the norwegian refugee council. you said this humanitarian pause is an opportunity, a window of opportunity. how will your organization take advantage of it? >> over the last seven, weeks we have been providing cash assistance to vulnerable, families and managing a handful of sites were internally displaced people that are not under our facilities. we have been providing those people with food, making sure other needs are culminated, giving them hygiene kits. we have plans to increase that amount of assistance to be able to access areas that previously were unsafe and do all that we can to reach communities in need one of the challenges is that it is unclear as of yet which goods will be coming in in which order. so we will have to be flexible in our response, not knowing when the ten trucks worth of good that we have waiting in egypt will be able to make it through, and when we will be able to distribute those. but we will distribute whatever we can inside of gaza to provide for needs, hot meals, and continue to try and address some of the vast enormous humanitarian needs. >> we know that included in the humanitarian supplies will be fuel, that fuel is designed, and destined for humanitarian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, to sewage plants, to ensure that the infrastructure for those who need it most is functioning. how important and significant is that part of the deal? the concession by israel to allow fuel into the gaza strip? what is likely to be much more significant amounts than has been to date? >> fuel is desperately needed to address and -- all aspects of life in gaza. there has been no electricity in gaza for over a month at this point. so everything is reliant on generators. we ourselves can't even execute a humanitarian response without fuel to run our cars, and be able to move across gaza. fuel is needed for hospitals, water sanitation facilities, desalinization, and waste water treatment. fuel is desperately needed. it is important to note that israel remains the occupying power in gaza, and has remained the occupying power since 1967. as a result of being the occupying power, israel has obligations to care for their well-being and provide for the basic needs for survival for palestinians in gaza. they should throughout all of these seven weeks, have been providing those goods, or allowing humanitarian unfettered access without undue interference so that we could address those needs. we are desperate to scale up this aid, we need to be able to scale up this aid. under international law, israel should not be prohibiting that >> we thank you for joining us from jerusalem where the time is 7:16 in the morning. we are 16 minutes into what is been organized as a humanitarian pause. this is a four-day period, a lull in the fighting, an opportunity to get that much needed humanitarian aid into the near 2 million or so people who need it in the gaza strip, and to affect the release of the first hostages being held by hamas in the area. thank you. we are taking a quick break. we will be back with more news after this. > welcome back. becky anderson in doha, qatar. we are monitoring offense in the middle east, where a four-day truce between israel and hamas set to take place this hour. here is a live look at the israel gaza border right now. our correspondent in the area reports hearing what sounds like israeli artillery fire, continuing after the truce was due to begin. though it does appear to be winding down. it is 7:21 with 21 minutes into the scheduled start of this pause in fighting. the idf says soldier still inside gaza will be stationed along established truce lines. according to qatar, which helped broker the deal, hostages held by hamas will be released to the red cross in the coming hours. israel will in turn free palestinian prisoners to the west bank. israel's military warning that there could be last-minute changes, because the complicated, the very complicated nature of this deal. the exchange of prisoners and hostages is a moment for hundreds of families who are desperate waiting on both sides. they are holding on to hope their loved ones will be freed in the coming days, and they are fighting for each and every one of them to be returned safely. cnn's oren liebermann reports. >> after nearly seven weeks of war, it is the storm before the calm. final hours of fighting in gaza ticking down. into a pause in the conflict early friday morning. 13 hostages, women and children, freed by hamas on friday afternoon, transferred to the red cross, then back to israel. >> we are waiting on a day-by-day basis for a phone call to see if our loved ones are coming back. >> under agreement, the scheduled plaza set to last for, days a total of 50 israeli women and children will be released in stages in exchange for hundred 50 women palestinian and children eldon is really presents. a spokesperson for qatar's foreign ministry expressed hope that a deal can be the basis for a longer pause. >> we are hoping that at least four days will work as a proof of concept to further de-escalation measures including expanding and sending this humanitarian pause, but also getting to a more sustainable truce. >> nearly 80% of gaza's population is displaced, facing critical shortages of food, water, and fuel. these trucks will provide only a faction of what is required. for gazans, the pause in fighting is a brief respite after weeks of his really bombardment. as of tuesday, more than 12,700 palestinians have been killed in gaza, missed a numbers from the hamas control ministry of health, which have not been officially updated because of a breakdown in communications. on thursday, a israel detained doctor -- the director of al-shifa hospital. the idf says he was questionable lurched hamas echo valley at the hospital. the idf released footage of additional tunnels as they were uncovered below gaza's largest medical facility. health officials in gaza have consistently denied hamas used in the hospital for military purposes. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in a meeting with the new uk foreign minister david cameron says the pause and fighting is not the end of the war. >> we continue with our warnings, in order to eradicate hamas, as hamas has only promised that they will do this again and again. >> the prime minister's office said in a statement, it had notified the families of the first 13 hostages to be released. gill dickman says he is holding his breath, even though has loved ones are not in the initial group. >> i'm actually myself very excited to hear about the kids that are coming home, and hostages coming home, but after saying that, i can't really believe anything until i see them free and calm. >> oren liebermann, cnn, tel aviv. i'm becky anderson in doha, in qatar. our coverage from israel continues after a short break. coming up we will take you live to southern israel as we monitor the expected truce between israel and hamas. stay with us. , well a four-day truce between israel and hamas's was due to go into effect at the top of this hour. israel says it has informed the families of the first group of hostages to be freed later on friday, the still also calls for the release of palestinian prisoners into the west bank. but first, we expect to see a convoy of aid trucks begin making their way into gaza from the egyptian border. a stretch of land liberated qatari officials conceded it is not nearly enough aid, but at least there is a pause in the fighting might be extended. >> it would be a faction of the need in gaza, no matter how much aid we are allowed to bring, in there will certainly be more need for aid, but we are hoping to bring in as much as possible within the confines of the deal. of course our aim is for the steal to and with a lasting truce. >> well a deal is for this truce to and with a sustained cease-fire, ultimately that is the qatari hope here. but in the beginning let's start with the baby steps as it were. this is a four-day truce scheduled to begin at 7 am local time. let's bring in cnn's jeremy diamond live this hour in israel just passed the bottom of the hour, just half past seven. jeremy, what can you tell us? >> becky, we are about a half hour into the schedule truce between israel and hamas, but we are really only ten, maybe 15 minutes into not actually hearing hostilities still coming from inside of gaza. in the first 15 minutes of this anticipated truce between israel and hamas, we were still hearing loud booms consistent with heavy weaponry inside of gaza, and about 15 minutes into the truce we also received incoming rocket sirens inside southern israel, in the kibbutz of -- and -- which are right along the border with gaza. now we don't know whether there are any impacts, or -- as a result of those sirens but clearly in those first 15 minutes of this truce, you are hearing ongoing hostilities between the parties. now i have reached out to the israeli military for comment, to see whether or not they fired any ammunition in those 15 minutes. they have yet to get back to me. for now though, becky, we are still seeing some smoke in the distance from previous strikes that happened earlier this morning, but we are not hearing any small arms fire we are not hearing any artillery, things appear to have calmed down at least for the moment. the question now is whether that will hold. >> yes, let's just remind viewers, from your vantage point over the past six and a half weeks or so, what have you've been witnessing? >> for weeks now, we have been witnessing all of the major military activity in the northern part of the gaza strip. in fact overnight was one of the most intense nights we have seen inside several days at least. we saw heavy israeli bombardments of parts of northern gaza, active fighting, small arms fire, machine gun fire. this was a busy night before this anticipated truce actually kicked in. >> yes,, jeremy thank you. jeremy diamond in southern israel. well the former coordinator of the hostage working group at the u.s. embassy in baghdad also a former u.s. navy commander joining me now. what is a really important -- this is a significant day. it is the day that the guns are expected to go silent according to the steel that has been negotiated by a qatar lead aviation team, and the day that we ought to see or scheduled at least to see the first of those hostages held by hamas released. how did that mediation team get us to where we are now? they certainly have described what the last 45 days have been like as intense, extremely complicated, complex times. just take us through what you believe they will have been through? >> well the bottom line is, the negotiations to get these hostages back began almost immediately. so 47 days to get a resolution, speaks to the level of the complexity. hamas and israel did not set across a table from each other. they both have sworn to -- which the level of distrust, the fact that the cease-fire did not go into effect at zero 700 local time us was the plan local time, says how fragile this truce will be. the cease-fire will end over something as simple as a skittish idf soldier at a checkpoint if a core approach is it too quickly, taking a shot of the vehicle. if mr. comes out of the west bank, or hezbollah. so