Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
An American child is expected to be freed by Hamas in the coming days in a round of hostage releases that was due to get underway Friday as part of a four-day ceasefire.
The child, a girl, is scheduled to be joined by two more Americans in the release of an initial 50 hostages, all of whom will have spent 7 weeks in captivity after being snatched from Israel on Oct. 7. On Friday, the first 13 of the hostages are due to be released.
The guns finally fell silent in Gaza after almost two months of carnage at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET). The steady rumble of trucks bringing aid into the beleaguered enclave has been heard since early Friday morning.