War raged on in Gaza on Thursday, as a proposed truce and release of hostages by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was delayed for at least another day, reported Reuters.

 

More than a day after plans were unveiled for the conflict's first ceasefire, the anticipated announcement of the official start time had yet to materialise. Israel said it would not begin at least until Friday.

 

Clouds of smoke could be seen billowing above northern Gaza's war zone from across the fence in Israel as daylight broke over the Gaza Strip, accompanied by the sounds of heavy gunfire and booming explosions.

 

On the ground, Israel has continued its ground and air operation in Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to win 'absolute victory' over Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel is "slowly but surely" dismantling the military framework of Hamas.

 

In Rafah on the strip's southern edge, residents combed with bare hands through the ruins of a house smashed in a giant crater. A grey-bearded man wailed amid the shattered masonry while another man lay a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. 

 

Neighbour Khaled Hamad told Reuters it was the home of a primary school teacher, killed inside with his children.

 

The Israeli military said it had launched 300 air strikes in the past day.

 

Meanwhile mediators in Qatar have confirmed that both Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will start a four-day truce on Friday morning with the first batch of Israeli hostages released later that day.

 

Hamas had announced there'd be a four-day pause beginning at 10am on Thursday - but an Israeli source has since told the BBC there's been a setback.

 

It came after a security adviser to the Israeli government said there'd be no Israeli hostages released by Hamas before Friday.

 

Families of those being held in Gaza have said every captive "needs to come home", but the UN's Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa said a four-day pause - in which more aid would be allowed to go into the enclave - is simply not enough.

 

Lorries carrying aid have begun queuing up at the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza in anticipation of the pause in hostilities. Earlier, the executive director of Unicef - the UN's agency for children - said Gaza now faces a crisis of "child wasting" - a term used to describe the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

 

Meanwhile, in another development, Hezbollah - the powerful Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon - has said that a son of its senior leader and Lebanese lawmaker Mohammad Raad had been killed in an Israeli air strike.