• Israeli strikes kill dozens ahead of truce
• 33 Israeli hostages set to be released
• Israel to free 737 prisoners
• PA says ready to assume 'full responsibility' in Gaza

A ceasefire in the Gaza war will begin today morning, mediator Qatar said after Israel's cabinet voted to approve the truce and hostage-prisoner release deal.

Since Qatar and the United States, which mediated the deal along with Egypt, announced the agreement on Wednesday, Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued.

Ahead of the truce, Gaza's civil defence rescue agency said at least five members of a family were killed when a strike hit their tent in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza.

Explosions were heard over Jerusalem after air raid sirens blared and the military said a projectile had been launched from Yemen, whose Iran-backed Huthi rebels say they support the Palestinians.

The Huthis said they targeted the Israeli defence ministry, before air raid sirens sounded again in southern Israel in the afternoon and the military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

"As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) on Sunday," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.

In more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel, there has been only one previous truce, for one week, in November 2023. That deal also saw the release of hostages held by the militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

"The government has approved the hostage return plan," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the cabinet vote.

Netanyahu's office said the deal "supports achieving the objectives of the war".

But Hamas said Israel had "failed to achieve its aggressive goals" and "only succeeded in committing war crimes that disgrace the dignity of humanity".

Israel's justice ministry said 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees would be freed as part of the deal's first phase -- none before 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) today.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has said an initial 42-day ceasefire would see 33 hostages released by militants in Gaza.

The truce is to take effect on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration for a second term as US president.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has completed preparations "to assume full responsibility in Gaza" after the war.

Israel has expressed no definitive stance on post-war governance beyond rejecting any role for either Hamas or the PA. Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Gaza should be under PA control.

Ahead of the truce, displaced Gazans prepared to return home.

"I will go to kiss my land," said Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp further south. "If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person."

Since October 7, 2023, Israel's military campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,899 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Mediators had worked for months to reach a deal but the efforts were fruitless until Trump's inauguration neared.

Brett McGurk, the pointman for outgoing President Joe Biden, was joined in the region by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff in an unusual pairing to finalise the agreement, US officials said.