Despite the glaring limitations, any hour of peace and any release of hostages in this war is a cause for relief

Amid the horror of the last seven weeks, recent days have brought some degree of relief for many in Israel and Gaza. Hostages released by Hamas are deeply traumatised by their ordeal; many will face fresh despair as they learn that their friends and loved ones are dead, or as they attempt to come to terms with leaving fathers and husbands in captivity. Inhabitants of Gaza remain homeless, hungry, desperate, grieving and terrified by the prospect of death soon raining down upon them once more. And yet the ceasefire and releases have brought a faint glimmer of limited hope when previously there has seemed to be none.

Qatar said on Wednesday afternoon that it was “very optimistic” that the ceasefire will be lengthened further. Hamas said it was willing to back a four-day extension, and Israeli officials indicated that it had enough hostages to cover two to three days more of releases, with an estimated total of 161 hostages held captive in Gaza. For Hamas, this time has allowed it to regroup, while the release of jailed Palestinians has boosted its support. However, almost as many Palestinians have been arrested as freed since the truce went into effect, including children, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club . For Benjamin Netanyahu, the pause has indicated recognition of US concerns and addressed the fury of those lambasting the Israeli prime minister for not prioritising hostages.

Heads of US and Israeli spy agencies to meet Qatari leadership, with focus on persuading Hamas to release male hostages

US and Israeli spy chiefs have flown to Qatar for talks on how to extend the current truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of more hostages by Hamas.

The discussions of the CIA director, William Burns, and the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, with the Qatari leadership, are expected to focus on persuading Hamas to begin releasing the men among the remaining hostages.

Weeks of precarious talks finally led to Friday’s releases of captives. Here’s the inside story

The footage of hostages, many of them teenagers and younger, being seized and driven away crying and pleading with their captors, was as harrowing as the sight of the corpses Hamas left behind.

The slaughter of Israeli civilians on 7 October was intended to strike terror into the Israeli psyche and inflict a lasting wound. The hostage-taking was done for other reasons: as a brake on Israeli retaliation and to trade for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Seven weeks later, it has clearly worked better as a bargaining chip than as a deterrent.

UK foreign secretary hopes situation will provide opportunity to ‘get hostages out and get aid into Gaza’

• Israel-Hamas war – live updates

David Cameron has met Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, during a visit to Israel, expressing hope that the planned temporary truce with Hamas would be an “opportunity to crucially get hostages out and get aid into Gaza”.

The ceasefire is due to begin on Friday morning from 7am local time, with aid “going in as soon as possible”, according to Qatari officials. The first set of civilians held captive by Hamas are expected to be freed at about 4pm local time on Friday, including 13 women and children.

Although the release of hostages and a pause in violence are essential in such desperate times, this is not a lasting solution

The ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, due to begin on Thursday morning, will be deeply felt. To some, it will mean everything. If it proceeds as agreed, the families of 50 women and children of Israeli and other nationalities, held hostage by Hamas since its murderous raids on 7 October, will at last be reunited with their loved ones. For traumatised families in Gaza, the deal will bring respite from relentless airstrikes and the prospect of desperately needed aid. It will also see the release of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

There has been talk of such an arrangement for weeks. There is fury among relatives that hostages have ranked so low on Benjamin Netanyahu’s list of priorities: the Israeli prime minister did not meet family members until this week . Hamas refused to provide identifying information on hostages and threatened to cut talks over Israel’s raid on al-Shifa hospital. In the intervening time, several hostages have died, and thousands more Palestinians. Another 100 people in Gaza were killed within hours of the deal being announced.

Qatar is mediating a potential truce agreement between the two sides involving the release of hostages

• Israel-Hamas war: live updates

Many countries in the Middle East aspire to the role of mediators – Egypt, Oman and Kuwait among them – but Qatar presents itself as the region’s primary problem solver and advocate of dialogue. It has been active in Ukraine, Lebanon, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan and Gaza, in the process hosting the leadership of the Taliban and the political wing of Hamas among others.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says ‘good progress in past few days’ on potential agreement of large-scale release

• Israel-Hamas war – live updates

Only minor differences between Hamas and Israel remain to be resolved before a hostage deal can be struck, the Qatari prime minister has said.

Qatar has been at the centre of mediation efforts to reach an agreement that would see large numbers of hostages released, starting with children and women. A humanitarian pause lasting as long as five days would be agreed to allow the transport of the hostages.

Despite their rosy narrative, the tournament hosts – and Fifa – face criticism for continued exploitation of migrant labour

One year ago, things were looking up for Shakir Ullah Khan. The World Cup in Qatar was about to kick off, and Khan had travelled from Pakistan to Qatar and had found a prestigious job as a security guard at the tournament. “I was happy to join a big organisation like Fifa,” says Khan. But it did not last. “Once we started work … all my hopes turned to mud.”

The labour reforms put in place after the international community condemned the exploitation and deaths among the army of migrant workers who built Qatar’s World Cup dream, were supposed to be the legacy of the tournament. Instead, migrant workers in Qatar say that life is no better for those left behind.

No one should be squeamish about a state such as Qatar acting as a broker and bringing Hamas to the table

The BBC reporter was aggressive. How could Qatar possibly play host to representatives of Hamas during the present Israel/Gaza conflict? The Qatari official patiently explained that his country had long acted as an intermediary . It organised prisoner swaps, humanitarian aid and peace initiatives. It negotiated the recent Israeli and US hostage returns . It had mediated conflicts in Afghanistan, Chad, Libya and Sudan. The BBC’s challenge might have been, why were these mediations often unsuccessful? But no: the implication was that they were improper.

If there is now to be a way out of the Israel/Gaza conflict, it will need intermediaries, as these wars almost always do. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Paris accords that ended the Vietnam war. It is the 30th of the Oslo accords that achieved peace, for a while, between Israel and Palestine through Norwegian auspices.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist