Morning recap

Good morning MEE readers. It is almost 9 am on Thursday morning in Gaza, a day that was originally supposed to be the start of a multi-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

However, Israel said on Wednesday that the release of captives in Gaza, which was a core element of the ceasefire agreement, would not take place before Friday, sparking concerns of when the deal would go into effect.

Qatar said on Thursday morning that an announcement regarding the start of the truce could come in a few hours. As the uncertainty over the start of the halt in fighting looms, Israeli aircraft have continued targeting areas in Gaza overnight.

If you're just joining, here's what you need to know:

• Around 200 wounded Palestinians are stuck in Indonesia hospital, which has faced an Israeli military siege this week.

• An Israeli strike on Gaza on Wednesday killed five Hezbollah members, including the son of a Lebanese member of parliament.

• At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombing in Khan Younis.

• The US downed multiple drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

• US President Joe Biden told his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that he was opposed to the forced relocation of Gaza residents.