In October, Qatar mediated the release of four captives before the negotiations stalled under the non-stop Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Qatar’s wider de-escalation efforts in Gaza will go beyond the four-day truce in hopes of halting the deadly Israeli war on the besieged strip, Doha’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al Khulaifi told CNN on Wednesday.

“Our work is not done. We’re going to continue working with both sides hoping that we can secure this bigger objective […] We know that our mission did not finish, and our work is continuous for the better cause,” the lead Qatari negotiator said.

“Our hope is really that we see a period where we can put an end to this war and let the people leave and reduce this humanitarian suffering for the people in Gaza,” he added.

Al Khulaifi’s comments came hours after Qatar secured a four-day “humanitarian pause” in Gaza on Wednesday following weeks of negotiations with its international partners, including Egypt and the United States.

The temporary truce came 46 days after Israel waged the most brutal war on Gaza in years, killing more than 14,500 Palestinians, including more than 5,840 children. 

The actual toll is believed to be higher with thousands still trapped under the rubble and as Gaza’s health sector struggles to keep up with the figures under the non-stop bombardment.

The Qatar-brokered deal entailed the release of 50 women and children captives held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian women and child prisoners from Israeli prisons.

The number of those released will increase in the later stages of the truce, which is also subject to an extension, the Qatari foreign ministry said in its announcement of the deal.

While the Qatari announcement fell short of specifying the number of Palestinians expected to be released, Hamas had said on its Telegram channel that the total is 150. Israel’s justice ministry had also published a list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners who could be released.

While the truce was initially scheduled to come into force on Thursday morning, Israel said that the release of hostages would not begin before Friday. The bombardment also continued the following day after the truce’s announcement.

“The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday,” Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a circulating statement released by the prime minister’s office.

In October, Qatar mediated the release of four captives before the negotiations stalled under the non-stop Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

In detailing the recent Qatar-mediated truce, Al Khulaifi said that each day includes an obligated number of releases on the Israelis and Hamas, saying 10 would be the minimum number of captives to be released on a daily basis.

“Each day, we aim to have a number of releases, because the number is big. We’ve managed to get the parties to agree on the releases systematically. In other words, there will be an organised schedule allowing the releases on each day,” he said.

Al Khulaifi explained that Qatar “will be notified of the official list of people each day” within the first hour of the agreement.

He further noted that Qatar told Hamas to provide it with a complete list of all the captives in Gaza, where at least 242 Israelis and foreigners are being held.

“They’ve been granted that period of calm and not only the period of calm but also preventing any military clashes, ground invasion, air surveillance that will provide them with room to provide us with that commitment,” Al Khualifi said.

Apart from the hostages and prisoners’ exchange, the deal stipulated the entry of additional aid trucks into Gaza, including ones carrying fuel for key infrastructures in the besieged enclave.

Al Khulaifi stressed that the deal is “providing not only a quantity but also quality humanitarian aid and assistance as needed.”

“Now, we’ve managed to secure fuel being provided for vital infrastructure such as hospitals and others,” he said.

Fuel has been cut off from Gaza’s 2.3 million population since October 8 under a complete Israeli siege on the Strip, forcing hospitals to shut down as well as the only power plant in the city.

Between October 21 and November 21, at least 1,399 truckloads of humanitarian supplies excluding fuel entered Gaza, the United Nations said on Tuesday. 

The aid amount is still not enough for Gaza’s population and is lower than the average 10,000 truckloads entering Gaza before the war.