Tel Aviv: A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines, the Associated Press reported. The announcement came hours after Israel's Cabinet approved President Donald Trump's plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.
Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military's announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.
However, shelling continued through the early hours after the Cabinet approval, and Gaza residents reported intensified shelling well into Friday morning.
AL Ahli hospital told Al Jazeera that seven bodies were recovered after Israeli attack helicopters ran air raids in east of Gaza city.
In central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, Mahmoud Sharkawy, one of the many people sheltering there after being displaced from Gaza City, said artillery shelling intensified in the early hours.
“The shelling has significantly increased today,” said Sharkawy, adding that low-flying military aircraft had been flying over central Gaza.
In northern Gaza, two Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that bombing had been ongoing since the early hours, mostly artillery shelling.
The managing director of Shifa hospital, Rami Mhanna, said the shelling in southern and northern Gaza City had not stopped following the Israeli Cabinet's approval of the ceasefire plan.
“It is confusing, we have been hearing shelling all night despite the ceasefire news,” said Heba Garoun, who fled her home in eastern Gaza City to another neighbourhood in the city after her house was destroyed.