An Israeli attack on a house in Gaza City killed 18 people on Sunday as Palestinians nervously awaited the start of a ceasefire.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have killed at least 82 people in Gaza, including at least 30 in Gaza City in the hours after Hamas and Israel announced a ceasefire.

At least 18 people were killed in an attack on a house near the Union of Engineers building in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also said it had recovered 12 bodies from the Shehradwan neighborhood of Gaza City.

In central Gaza, an Israeli drone struck a group of people in the Breji refugee camp in the Karaj district, killing five people.

The death toll, tallied since dawn on Wednesday, continued to rise as Palestinians returned to shelter in their tents after briefly celebrating news of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday night.

"Within a few hours, people turned the entire area into a stage of celebration, which is something we are not used to seeing here, because this area used to be the stage for the funerals of war victims, a space full of pain and sorrow," Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reports from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

But the ceasefire won't begin until Sunday, and Gazans fear the situation will get worse before Israel stops its bombing, Mahmoud said.

"We expected a surge in drone and heavy artillery attacks, which is what caused people to end their celebrations after two hours," he said.

Al Jazeera's Anas Sharif, reporting from Gaza City, said the onslaught of Israeli attacks had "dampened" the joy people felt when the ceasefire was first announced.

"Just a few hours ago, there was an atmosphere of joy and relief among residents here when Doha announced a ceasefire that would come into effect in the coming days," Sharif said.

"However, as soon as the news was announced, Israeli warplanes dampened people's joy - direct air strikes on hospitals, shelters and homes."

Both Israel and Hamas have publicly acknowledged that a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been reached, although Israel says there are still some final details that need to be discussed before the agreement is signed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to an Israeli negotiating team at dawn on Thursday in Doha, who briefed him on the first phase of the release of Palestinian prisoners with Hamas, his office said in a statement. in exchange for disagreements over prisoners. Transactional.

As of January 1, 2025, there were at least 10,221 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, not including an unknown number of Palestinians taken from the Gaza Strip and detained by the military, including at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Dean Dr. Hussam Abu Safia. Destroyed by Israeli forces.

Hamas politburo member Izzat Rishek earlier said the ceasefire agreement met all the Palestinian organization's conditions, including a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of displaced people to their homes and a permanent end to the war in the Palestinian areas. enclave.

Exactly when the ceasefire will begin on Sunday is unclear, but the process will be implemented in three phases.