The first truce in a near seven-week-old war, reached after mediation by Qatar, was hailed around the world as a sign of progress that could ease the suffering of civilians in Israeli-besieged Gaza and bring more Israeli captives home. Arab ministers praised the agreement but said it should become a first step toward a full ceasefire.

Israel on Wednesday said the ceasefire could be extended further if more hostages were freed, and a Palestinian source said as many as 100 hostages in total could be released by the end of the month.

The halt comes as the Israeli army says it has uncovered further parts of a suspected Hamas tunnel system under al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) published videos and images on Wednesday which show further entrances to tunnels as well as subterranean rooms and hideouts.

The IDF suspects a Hamas command centre under the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, extending to buildings in the vicinity of al-Shifa.

A few days ago, during its controversial operation in the hospital the Israeli army discovered a shaft which it says leads to a tunnel section leading to an “explosion-proof” door after 55 metres.

As the army has now announced, there is an air-conditioned room and a bathroom as well as other shafts behind the recently broken open door.

Hamas and allied groups captured about 240 hostages when Islamist gunmen rampaged through southern Israeli towns on October 7. Previously, Hamas had released just four.

A statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday night said 50 women and children would be released over four days at a rate of at least 10 daily. Beyond that, the truce could be extended day by day as long as an additional 10 hostages were freed per day.

Hamas said the initial 50 hostages would be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children imprisoned in Israel. Hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, medical and fuel supplies would enter Gaza, while Israel would halt all air sorties over southern Gaza and maintain a daily six-hour daytime no-fly window in the north, the enclave’s ruling Islamists said.

Israel has subjected Gaza to siege and relentless bombardment since the Hamas attack, which killed 1200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, over 14,000 Gazans have been killed, around 40 per cent of them children, according to medical officials in the territory.

Qatar’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, told Reuters the truce meant there would be “no attack whatsoever. No military movements, no expansion, nothing”.

Pending the start of the truce there was no let-up in fighting. As morning broke, smoke from explosions rose above northern Gaza in live Reuters video from across the border fence.

Israel’s military released footage of soldiers shooting in narrow alleyways and said it had carried out further air strikes. Its “forces continue to operate within the (Gaza) Strip’s territory to destroy terrorist infrastructure, eliminate terrorists and locate weaponry”, it said.

The truce deal is a first small step towards calm in the most violent ruction of the 75-year-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The past seven weeks have shocked the world because of the suffering of civilians on both sides, beginning with the killing of Israeli families in their homes and continuing with devastation rained down on Gaza, home to 2.3 million people.

US President Joe Biden was among international leaders who welcomed the deal. Three Americans, including a three-year-old girl whose parents were killed on October 7, are expected to be among the hostages to be released, a senior US official said.

Arab foreign ministers, visiting Britain and France for talks on Wednesday, said the agreement should be extended.

“Whatever humanitarian access now increases as a result of this hostage deal must remain in place and must be built upon,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said in London alongside his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts..

Both Israel and Hamas, however, said the pause in hostilities would not halt their broader missions.

“We are at war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals. To destroy Hamas, return all our hostages and ensure that no entity in Gaza can threaten Israel,” Netanyahu said in a recorded message.

Hamas said in its statement: “As we announce the striking of a truce agreement, we affirm that our fingers remain on the trigger, and our victorious fighters will remain on the look-out to defend our people and defeat the occupation.”