Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Gaza City as pictured from Nuseirat in central Gaza. AFP
Turkish officials took part in the ceasefire and captive release negotiations held earlier Thursday in Egypt, joining the US, Qatar, and Egypt as mediators.
AFP reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said Turkey would participate in a "task force" to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas.
"We will hopefully join the task force that will monitor the implementation of the agreement on the ground," Erdogan said.
Turkey, which has been closely involved in the negotiations, sent a team to the talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
The agreement, which will be signed in Egypt on Thursday, involves freeing the remaining captives and is seen as a significant step towards ending the two-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe.
"It is of great importance to urgently deliver comprehensive humanitarian aid to Gaza, exchange captives and prisoners, and for Israel to immediately cease its attacks," Erdogan said.
He also promised Turkey would help reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
According to Israeli estimates, 48 captives remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Israel's carpet bombing of Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and is also believed to have killed some of the captives held by Hamas. With large parts of the territory reduced to rubble, Hamas has warned that locating all captives, whether alive or deceased, may take time.
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