TRANSCRIPT
Israel says a truce could last beyond the initial four days decided upon as long as Hamas frees at least 10 hostages per day.
Both sides say they will go back to fighting once the truce is over.
The breakthrough four-day truce was facilitated by Qatar with help from Egypt and the United States.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says the truce is about releasing the hostages and getting much needed aid into Gaza.
"The criteria on which to prioritise the hostages was purely humanitarian, as you know, and our focus was on getting the women and children out of harm's way as soon as possible, which is basically what we are doing within this agreement. And we will be going through, hopefully, that the momentum carried by this deal would help us get everybody out in time and at the same time, of course, lessen the hardship of the people in Gaza through the humanitarian pause that is taking place."
The diplomatic breakthrough promises some relief for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken hostage during Hamas’ October 7 attack that triggered the war.
Hundreds of trucks with humanitarian aid and ambulances with urgent medical supplies have been waiting for a break in fighting to allow aid to get through.
Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the World Health Organisation's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, says more aid is essential as the agency is receiving reports of diseases rapidly spreading among displaced Palestinians.
“We started to receive reports concerning diseases that are spreading among the displaced. For example, pneumonia among over 70,000 people. We have around 50,000 cases with infections like diarrhoea and intestinal infections. There are skin infections. For example, we have around 17,000 cases of scabies. There are 5,000 cases of mumps. There are hundreds, even thousands of cases with chicken pox.”
During a meeting with British foreign secretary David Cameron in Jerusalem, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would continue pursuing his goal of destroying Hamas.
"There's no hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israel and the Arab states, if we don't eradicate this murderous movement that threatens the future of all of us. I think it's a larger battle of civilisation against barbarism."
Israel has confirmed it has detained the head of Gaza's biggest hospital al-Shifa for questioning over his role in what the Israeli government says was the hospital's use as a Hamas command centre.
Hamas has condemned the arrest of al-Shifa director Muhammad Abu Salamiya and other doctors, who it says were simply trying to evacuate remaining patients and the wounded from the facility.
The arrest comes as footage has emerged of a mass grave in the hospital's courtyard.
The video released by Reuters shows people digging within the hospital grounds with buildings and paths matching location file and satellite imagery.
This man is one of those seen in the video burying the dead.
"Doctors are now preparing to dig mass graves for the dead, to bury all the martyrs. From doctors, to people and their family members, they are all trying to dig in this spot. May God bless their souls. This place has turned into a mass grave in Al Shifa hospital. This is a mass grave, May God bless their souls. The doctors and nurses and families of the dead have all joined hands to bury them."
Weeks of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, followed by a ground invasion have killed more than 14,000 Gazans, about 40 per cent of them children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israeli sources says 1,200 people died and about 240 hostages were seized on 7 October Hamas attack.
