International aid groups have lined up thousands of aid lorries for Gaza ahead of a planned ceasefire between Hamas and Israel beginning on Thursday.
A diplomatic breakthrough is set to see dozens of hostages held by Hamas freed as well as Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and bring a large influx of aid to the besieged territory.
Details remain unclear about how more aid for Palestinians will enter Gaza and the exact details of the release of hostages kidnapped from Israel whose families have desperately sought their release.
The truce announced on Wednesday raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which was triggered by Hamas's October 7 massacre in Israel.
Now in its seventh week, the war has levelled vast swaths of Gaza, fuelled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank, and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.
But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Wednesday he told US President Joe Biden that he will press ahead with Israel's war after the temporary ceasefire expires.
Mr Netanyahu said at a news conference he delivered the message to Mr Biden in a phone call on Wednesday.
"I want to be clear. The war is continuing. The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals," Mr Netanyahu said.
Mr Netanyahu's office said the release of hostages will not be before Friday.
The lsraeli leader, along with the other members of his special war cabinet, told a press conference earlier Wednesday they will resume the war until Hamas is destroyed and all of the 240 hostages it is holding are released.
The aid groups waiting to deliver aid said transporting food, water and other supplies to northern Gaza is vital.
The area has been largely inaccessible to humanitarian shipments and where nearly all hospitals have stopped working amid Israeli bombardment.
"The entire humanitarian sector is ready to scale up once everything is set," said Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Mr Della Longa lamented "bottlenecks" that have confounded the deliveries of some humanitarian aid, though not nearly enough, into Gaza.
He said IFRC hopes that a deal would include provisions to allow for a "faster track" of aid shipments.
The only route for international humanitarian aid into Gaza since October 7 has been through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, and planeloads of supplies have been flown into the nearby Egyptian city of El-Arish and lorries have queued up near Gaza.
Intense Israeli inspections of lorries and cargo have slowed entry into Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it doesn't know when the ceasefire will take effect but the army is ready.
Egyptian state media say the truce will begin Thursday morning at 10am.
Egypt helped mediate the cease-fire agreement, which would bring the first respite to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities.
Mr Netanyahu told his Cabinet to back the agreement and that the war would continue even if a deal was reached.
Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
Israel's Justice Ministry has published a list of 300 Palestinian detainees and prisoners who could potentially be released in a hostage deal.
Most of those on the list published on Wednesday are teenagers arrested over the past year for relatively minor offenses, including throwing rocks or alleged incitement. None was convicted of murder.
The youngest detainee on the list is 14, and it also includes around 40 women. The detainees are to be released to their homes in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
According to the deal, 50 hostages will be released over four days, likely starting Thursday, during which fighting will pause.
After that, every additional 10 hostages released will result in one additional day in the pause and the release of additional Palestinian prisoners.
Israel is expected to release 150 Palestinian prisoners in the first four days, though the Ministry of Justice published the list of 300 in case the deal is extended.
Under Israeli law, the public has 24 hours to object to any release.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it has released an award-winning Palestinian poet it detained in Gaza.
Mosab Abu Toha has been contributing pieces to western media since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, painting a dire picture of its toll on civilians through his personal experience.
His family announced on Monday that Abu Toha had been arrested while evacuating to southern Gaza from his home in the hard-hit Jabaliya refugee camp.
