Israeli media reports that the release of the hostages is being delayed until Friday. Newspaper Haaretz and N12 television quoted security adviser Cahi Hanegbi as saying: "Discussions on the release of our hostages are continuing and progressing."
Hanegbi says the release of the Israeli hostages will take place based on a previous agreement reached with Hamas, but not before Friday.
An Israeli official explained that the delay was due to the subsequent prevailing opinion that Israel and Hamas should sign the agreement before starting to implement it.
Other sources claim that Israel is insisting that Hamas provide a list of hostages to be released.
The Jerusalem Post it says that "there were complications at the last minute", but that he should solve everything in the next 24 hours.
The exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire were expected to take place from 10am on Thursday.
JH/Times of Israel/BBC
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