In a last-minute decision, Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their six-day ceasefire by one more day.
Hamas has released 81 Israeli hostages, while Israel has released 180 Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, the children of Gaza were gifted some simple joy on Thursday.
A clown sparked rare smiles in the enclave as Israel’s iron fist continues to haunt their lives.
They'll live in temporary peace for another two days after a second truce extension.
On October 7 the cameras were rolling as 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother, and their mother were abducted from their kibbutz (Israeli agricultural community).
Hamas now claims the trio were killed by an Israeli airstrike.
The IDF is investigating, but as the gut-wrenching human swap winds down – the focus is zeroing in on how it will all end.
"There is no chance we won't resume the fighting until the end. This is my policy. The entire cabinet stands behind it," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Plus, overnight ground forces were deployed across several locations which led to more tragedy captured on CCTV.
Adam Al Ghoul, just eight years old, was trying to run away as bullets sprayed the road.
He was killed, and so too was a 15-year-old caught up in the chaos.
These add to the overwhelming number of fatalities inside Gaza - where more than two-thirds of the dead are children and women.
"More than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of military operations in Gaza," said James Elder from UNICEF.
The truce has allowed crucial aid to get into Gaza, but not enough.
"I expected the worst. It's worse than I imagined. I've not seen the intensity of wounds of war, mortars, burns, so many burns [and the] broken little bodies of children," Elder told Newshub.
"I've not seen the sheer number of that."
The risk of disease, the desperation for food, water and medicine in the embattled enclave – is incomparable to anything James Elder has seen in his 20 years working in humanitarian aid.
But Israel is adamant another deadly storm is coming.
