Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described a ceasefire agreement with Islamist Hamas to trade citizens as the right decision.
The war will continue even after the implementation of the agreement to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, he emphasised at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
The fighting would continue until Israel had achieved all its goals, Netanyahu added.
Up to 100 hostages from Israel could be exchanged for up to 300 Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons.
Netanyahu labelled the return of the hostages as an ethical duty and said every opportunity would be utilized to ultimately free all hostages who were taken when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people.
Israel hit back with shelling and a ground offensive, with the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry saying over 16,000 have died, but this number was later disputed.
Hamas says the ceasefire is to begin on Thursday at 10am (0800 GMT).
Netanyahu did not comment on the exact start and there was also no official information on the time of the citizen exchange.
According to reports, this is expected to be as early as midday on Thursday. (dpa/NAN)
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