Israeli cabinet approves ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza

Friday also saw a meeting held in Cairo to discuss mechanisms for implementing the deal, a senior Egyptian official told the BBC.

All the necessary arrangements were agreed, including the formation of a joint operations room to ensure compliance, which will include Egyptian, Qatari, US, Palestinian and Israeli representatives, the official said.

Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV also quoted sources as saying they had agreed to facilitate the entry of 600 aid trucks per day during the ceasefire.

That would require a more than 14-fold increase from the average of 43 lorries reported by the United Nations in January. But Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in Gaza, said “the possibility is very much there” if the Rafah crossing with Egypt and other crossings are opened.

WHO also plans to deliver a number of prefabricated hospitals to support the devastated health sector. Half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are non-functional, while others are only partially functional.

There has been no respite for the Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday night.

The Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency in Gaza says a total of 117 Palestinians, including 32 women and 30 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since then.

Tamer Abu Shaaban said his niece was killed by missile shrapnel while she was playing in the school playground in Gaza City where her displaced family was hiding.

“Is this the truce they’re talking about?” he told the Reuters news agency as he stood next to his body in the morgue. “What did this girl, this child, do to deserve this?”

The Israeli military said on Thursday afternoon that it had carried out strikes on 50 “terror targets” across Gaza in the previous day and was taking steps to reduce harm to civilians.