Four-day Gaza truce agreed by Hamas and Israel takes effect for first time after seven weeks of war, al Jazeera reported.

Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and 13 captives in Gaza expected to be released in the coming hours, with aid trucks also crossing into Gaza.

The Gaza Strip endures night of intensified bombardment from “air, land, and sea” ahead of start of Qatar-mediated truce, UN says.

Another Palestinian journalist, Amal Zuhd, and family members killed in Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli military raids continue overnight across the occupied West Bank where more than 220 Palestinians have been killed since the start of war.

More than 14,800 people killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at about 1,200.

Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the political bureau of Hamas, on Thursday appreciated the Islamic Republic for its strong support for the Palestinian people and resistance during the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, commending the latest ceasefire as a “political and military” victory for the resistance front, according to Press TV.

Haniyeh made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in the Qatari capital of Doha, ahead of the landmark four-day truce.

Haniyeh expressed his appreciation for the “firm support of the Iranian leadership, the president, the government and the people of Iran,” as well as the “active diplomatic support of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs for the Palestinian issue and its people, especially during the ongoing Israeli war against Gaza.”

The Hamas chief hailed as “honorable” the support of the resistance movements in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, noting that it bears a “clear” message to the Zionist regime and the United States.