A FOUR-DAY pause in the Gaza fighting between Israel and Hamas is due to begin on Friday morning, according to Qatar, a day later than originally announced.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said that work was continuing on the final details of the deal, which is intended to lead to Hamas releasing dozens of hostages and Israel freeing Palestinian political prisoners.

This follows a briefing to the United Nations security council that more than two-thirds of the Palestinians killed in the relentless bombardment of Gaza were women and children.