Israel's Cabinet approves a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza

Israel’s Cabinet has approved a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages that will pause the 15-month war with Hamas for six weeks.

The approval came shortly after 1 a.m. on Saturday in Jerusalem.

The deal brings Israel and Hamas a step closer to ending their deadliest and most destructive fighting ever.

The ceasefire — just the second achieved during the war — is expected to begin on Sunday.

The U.N. peacekeeping chief says Lebanon’s armed forces have significantly increased their deployment in the south near the border with Israel over the past two months.

Lebanese troops have moved into 93 locations in the south since the ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group began on Nov. 27.

That’s up from an estimated 10 locations south of the Litani River at the time of the truce.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix spoke to the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing from Beirut on Friday.

It’s past midnight in Jerusalem.

Israel’s full Cabinet has been meeting for over six hours now as they consider the deal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of dozens of hostages.

The meeting follows the smaller security Cabinet’s recommendation on Friday that ministers approve the deal.

The Cabinet is meeting well past the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, a rare occurrence and a reflection of the moment’s importance.

In line with Jewish law, the Israeli government usually halts all business for the Sabbath except in emergency cases of life or death.

Palestinian leaders who administer parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank say they’re ready “to assume full responsibility” in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement reported by the official Wafa news agency.

President Mahmoud Abbas’ office said the Palestinian Authority’s administrative and security agencies had finished preparations to restore critical services in Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas.

But there’s still no plan for who will govern Gaza after the war.

Israel has said it will work with local Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. But it’s unclear if such partners exist, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Authority controlled Gaza before Hamas violently expelled it in 2007, a year after winning an landslide victory in Palestinian elections.

The head of the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees says it is determined to keep working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank after an Israeli ban on its operations takes effect on Jan. 30.

Philippe Lazzarini told reporters Friday that shutting down the agency known as UNRWA would “massively weaken the international humanitarian response” in Gaza.

That’s because UNRWA is the only body capable of providing essential health care and education in Gaza, he said, which will be especially needed once the ceasefire takes effect.

Israel alleges Hamas and other militants in Gaza have infiltrated UNRWA, using its facilities and taking aid — claims for which it has provided little evidence.

Established in 1949, UNRWA offers support to the 6 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants around the Mideast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal and said he hopes it will hold.

This was the first time Putin has commented publicly on the agreement since mediators announced it earlier this week. Putin spoke after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, and said they touched on the Gaze ceasefire during their talks at the Kremlin.

Putin said that in addition to freeing Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the deal must open the way for more food, fuel and medicine into Gaza.

“At the same time, it is important not to weaken efforts to comprehensively resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the generally recognized international legal basis,” he said, “which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state existing in peace and security with Israel.”

The Israeli military said troops stationed inside Gaza are preparing for the implementation of the ceasefire, which is expected to begin Sunday.

During the ceasefire, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw from certain locations and routes within the Gaza Strip.

However, the military said it will not allow Palestinian residents to return to areas where Israeli troops are stationed, or near the border with Israel.

Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The U.S. on Friday imposed sanctions on Yemen-based Yemen Kuwait Bank for its alleged financial support to the Houthis, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

“The Houthis rely on a few key financial institutions like Yemen Kuwait Bank to access the international financial system and finance their destabilizing attacks in the region,” said Bradley T. Smith, Treasury’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Lebanese authorities are holding two U.S. citizens on suspicion of gathering information in an area controlled by the militant group Hezbollah south of Beirut, officials said Friday.

The U.S. citizens were carrying cameras and smartphones, and drew the suspicion of Hezbollah members who detained them before handing them over to Lebanon’s military intelligence for questioning. That’s according to two Lebanese judicial officials and a security official.

A U.S. Embassy official, when asked whether two Americans have been detained in Beirut, responded by saying: “We are aware of the case but have nothing further to add.”

All four officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the security matter with the media.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has deep support among the Shia community in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in the country’s south — areas that Israel repeatedly bombed last fall during the war with Hezbollah. A shaky ceasefire has been in effect since late November.

Israel’s Justice Ministry has published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who are set to be released on Sunday during the first stage of the ceasefire deal.

The list included 25 male prisoners slated for release, all under age 21, and 70 female prisoners. The youngest prisoners that will be released are 16 years old.

They were accused of crimes including incitement, vandalism, supporting terrorism, attempted murder, or throwing stones or Molotov cocktails.

One of the most well-known prisoners on the list is Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He has been in and out of Israeli prison in recent years. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said Jarrar’s repeated arrests are part of Israel’s wider crackdown on non-violent political opposition.

Israel’s Prison Services said it would carry out the transportation of the prisoners rather than the International Red Cross, to avoid “public expressions of joy.”

The lists of prisoners are published to allow members of the public to petition Israeli courts against the release of a specific prisoner. Members of the public can submit petitions up until the prisoners are released on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office says the meeting of the full Cabinet has begun on Friday evening. The Cabinet is expected to approve the agreement on the ceasefire, which could start as soon as Sunday.

The ceasefire has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, but their objections could destabilize his government.

The full Cabinet meeting follows one held earlier Friday by Israel’s security Cabinet, which recommended approval.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan made an unannounced visit to Damascus on Friday, meeting with the leader of Syria’s de facto government.

Khan’s office says he visited on the invitation of Syria’s transitional government to offer support in ensuring accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country.

Khan met with the country’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and the foreign minister to discuss options for justice in The Hague for the victims of the conflict, which has left more than half a million dead and more than six million people displaced.

Rights groups estimate at least 150,000 people went missing after anti-government protests began in 2011, most vanishing into Assad’s prison network. Many of them were killed, either in mass executions or from torture and prison conditions. The exact number remains unknown.

The global chemical weapons watchdog found Syrian forces were responsible for multiple attacks using chlorine gas and other banned substances against civilians.

Syria is not a member of the court, which has left the ICC without the ability to investigate the war.

The new authorities have called for the members of the Assad regime to be brought to justice.

Israel’s security cabinet has recommended approving a deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants.

The deal will now go to the full cabinet for approval before the ceasefire goes into effect. The prime minister’s office said that if a deal is passed, the ceasefire could start Sunday with the first hostages released.

The vote came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. However, a pre-dawn statement Friday appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval for the deal.

The U.N. chief says Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territories and stop conducting military operations inside Lebanon that violate the U.N. Security Council resolution that halted the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made his comments Friday during a visit to the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon near the border with Israel.

Speaking about military operations by Israeli troops inside Lebanon since a 60-day truce went into effect on Nov. 27, Guterres said: “They must stop.”

Guterres said the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL has uncovered over 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since the ceasefire.

He reiterated that Lebanese government forces as well as U.N. peacekeepers are the only sides who should have armed presence south of the Litani river near the border with Israel. He said the presence of other forces, an apparent reference to Hezbollah, “undermine Lebanon’s stability.”

As Israel prepares for the return of hostages, medical staff say they’re concerned about how long people have been in captivity.

Six hospitals throughout the country are preparing to receive the hostages. “Our main concern is the long time ... they are probably held in very very bad conditions, lack of nutrition, lack of hygiene,” said Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the medical directorate at Israel’s health ministry.

Around 100 hostages, a mix of civilians and soldiers, remain captive inside Gaza. They include around a dozen foreign nationals from Thailand, Nepal and Tanzania. The military believes at least a third of the remaining hostages — and up to half of them — are dead.

Under phase one of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are set to be released as early as Sunday.

Dr. Mizrahi said staff are also preparing to assist people with their mental health and have had training sessions recently on how to deal with the various situations that could impact the hostages.

Meanwhile families and friends of the hostages are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to return.

In a Tel Aviv square now known as Hostages Square because it’s become a gathering place for families and supporters, dozens of people gathered Friday to hear the families speak, chanting “you are not alone!”

“I’m really happy, but it also breaks my heart, because it’s already been 15 months,” said Yael Danieli, a 60-year-old real estate agent from Tel Aviv who has been active in the campaign to return the hostages.

No one thought they’d be abandoned for so long, she said.

Dr. Hagar Mizrahi of Israel’s Ministry of Health says hospitals are ready to deal with a broad spectrum of medical conditions when hostages held in the Gaza Strip are released. (AP Video by Ami Bentov)

The top World Health Organization official for Palestinian areas says any failure to finalize a Gaza ceasefire would be “utterly devastating” and crimp humanitarian efforts for the war-ravaged territory.

Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for Occupied Palestinian Territories, said that thousands of trucks are waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt, as well as from Jordan and elsewhere.

Under the ceasefire agreement — which is awaiting approval from Israel’s security cabinet and government — aid entry to Gaza is to be ramped up to hundreds of trucks a day of food, medicine, supplies and fuel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is far more than Israel has allowed in throughout the war.

Just 40 to 50 aid trucks a day have entered the territory in recent weeks.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva by video from Jerusalem, Peeperkorn said an influx of aid could help to rebuild electricity, water, waste management systems and other infrastructure that have been damaged in more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.

Peeperkorn cited a need for generator parts and “generator oil” that have not been allowed into Gaza.

He said it was his “assumption” that the three phases of the ceasefire process would take place in Gaza, and “it would be it would be utterly devastating if it is not going to happen.”

French President Emmanuel Macron says that French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

“We are working tirelessly to ensure they are reunited with their families,” he said in a message on X.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday, 33 of some 100 hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The agreement has not yet been approved by Israel’s security cabinet and government.

Macron was on a visit to neighbouring Lebanon on Friday, where he was to meet the crisis-hit country’s newly elected leaders, as the nation attempts to recover from the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Israel’s security cabinet is convening Friday to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war.

If the cabinet approves, the deal will then go to the government for the final sign-off.

The meeting comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said there were last minute snags in finalizing the ceasefire agreement. Israel had delayed a security cabinet vote Thursday, blaming the dispute with Hamas for holding up approval. However, a pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for the deal to be voted on by the security cabinet.

Under the deal expected to begin Sunday, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

France’s president began a visit to Lebanon Friday, where he will meet the crisis-hit country’s newly elected leaders, as the nation attempts to recover from the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Lebanon, his first in more than four years, follows a 60-day ceasefire deal that aims to end the war. France helped broker the deal and a French officer is a member of the committee that is supervising the truce, which went into effect on Nov. 27.

▶ Read more about Macron’s visit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached.

The announcement came a day after Netanyahu’s office said there were last minute snags in talks to free hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu said he will convene his security Cabinet on Friday and then the government to approve the ceasefire agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a last-minute dispute with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited ceasefire that would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages.

President-elect Donald Trump said the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas better be finalized before his inauguration on Monday and said his involvement was crucial for the negotiation.

“We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office,” he said in a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.

Trump also said “we shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done.”

He claimed Biden hadn’t done anything.

“I’m not looking for credit. I want to get these people out,” he said. “We’ve got to get them out.”

The truce is expected to begin Sunday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a “last-minute crisis” with Hamas is holding up his government’s approval.

The rubble clearance and eventual rebuilding of homes will require billions of dollars and the ability to bring construction materials and heavy equipment into the territory — neither of which are assured.

The ceasefire and hostage deal doesn’t say whether Israel and Egypt will lift a blockade on Gaza they imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007.

International donors are unlikely to invest in an ungoverned territory that has seen five wars in less than two decades, which means the sprawling tent camps along the coast could become a permanent feature of life in Gaza.

Before anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed — a staggering task in itself.

The U.N. estimates that the war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tons of rubble — roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take over 15 years to clear the rubble away.

The debris also contains huge amounts of unexploded ordnance as well as human remains. Gaza’s Health Ministry says thousands of people killed in airstrikes are still buried under the rubble.

The full extent of the damage will only be known when the fighting ends and inspectors have full access to the territory.

Using satellite data, the United Nations estimated last month that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are eager to leave miserable tent camps and return to their homes if a long-awaited ceasefire agreement halts the Israel-Hamas war, but many will find there is nothing left.

And it’s unclear when — or even if — much will be rebuilt.

▶ Read more about Gaza’s uncertain future.

Palestinian leaders who administer the occupied West Bank are getting ready in case they’re tasked with running critical services and setting up an interim government in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa met with top officials to discuss plans for reintegrating government institutions in Gaza, including the territory’s health care, education, water and power sectors, as well as coordinating a surge of humanitarian aid.

There’s still no plan for who will govern Gaza after the war.

Israel has said it will work with local Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. But it’s unclear if such partners exist, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with Israeli forces.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threated on Thursday night to leave the government if Israel approves the ceasefire, but said his party would rejoin the government if fighting in Gaza continued.

Even if Ben-Gvir’s party leaves the government, it does not rob Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a parliamentary majority.

It also would not stop a ceasefire deal if the plan comes to a Cabinet vote for approval, which could happen as early as Friday.

Ben-Gvir said the ceasefire was “reckless” and would “destroy all of Israel’s achievements.”

The EU said Thursday it had approved 120 million euros, or some $123 million, worth of humanitarian aid to address food security, shelter and healthcare for Gaza.

The preliminary ceasefire deal calls for hundreds of aid trucks to enter the besieged territory each day.

The European Union mission that once monitored the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah will send a delegation to Cairo early next week to help implement the ceasefire deal, according to the Egyptian government.

A spokesperson for the EU Commission, Anouar El Anouni, confirmed Thursday that the EU was “updating our plans to possibly redeploy” to Rafah.

He emphasized the deployment “remains dependent on full consent” from both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

Since Israeli forces captured the city of Rafah last May, the border has been closed to all civilians. Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian officials have been unable to agree on the terms to reopen it.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he “fully” expects the ceasefire deal in Gaza will be implemented as expected on Sunday, despite Israel pointing to a last-minute dispute with Hamas.

Blinken faced two significant interruptions at his final briefing to reporters in office, both from people accusing him of complicity in Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Diplomatic security physically removed one person who shouted, “Why aren’t you in the Hague?” a reference to the world’s top war-crimes court.

Blinken and other members of the Biden administration have faced criticism for the civilian casualties and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as for not imposing meaningful restrictions on sending arms to Israel.

Blinken called the ceasefire and hostage deal “a moment of historic possibility for the region.”

However, he said it would still “take tremendous effort, political courage, compromise ... to deliver on the promise of a more integrated Middle East.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed concern Thursday that Israeli airstrikes were still killing Palestinians in Gaza despite a ceasefire deal announced a day earlier.

“The Israeli government should not be allowed to violate and exploit the ceasefire,” Erdogan said at a news conference. “The international community should fulfill its legal and moral responsibility toward the people of Gaza.”

The ceasefire is expected to go into effect Sunday. Traditionally, both Israel and Hamas have intensified military actions before ceasefires take effect.

Displaced Palestinians in central Gaza woke up Thursday shocked and disappointed to learn that Israel still hadn’t approved the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“We went to sleep happy. It’s a shame that they would deprive us of this happiness,” said Karam Moeiliq. “Everyone has losses. It’s enough.”

Hours after getting their hopes up about returning home, families sheltering in Deir al-Balah are grappling with uncertainty about their future.

“We ask our brothers in Hamas to communicate with mediators to end the war. Enough with the destruction and killing,” said Omar Jendiya from Gaza City.

At least 72 Palestinians were killed across the war-torn territory since the deal was announced on Wednesday. It’s expected to begin Sunday.

“We want peace. We want to live like everyone in the world is living,” said Fayqa Hussein, a displaced woman from Jabaliya refugee camp.

“We want to live in safety. We want to teach our children what they missed at school,” she said.

Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister made a landmark visit to Syria on Thursday, pledging to support the country’s recovery and calling on the international community to “swiftly” remove sanctions.

The prime minister’s trip to Syria comes a day after he announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“We are on the verge of a new phase in Syria’s history, and Qatar extends its hand to the Syrian people for partnership,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during a press conference.

The Qataris met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, who heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group leading the new authority in Syria.

Al Thani said Israeli forces must withdraw from a U.N.-monitored buffer zone in Syria they captured last month.

For his part, Sharaa said his country is ready to welcome international forces to the buffer zone, adding that Qatar will have “a central role” in creating global pressure on Israel to withdraw.

Qatar is a close ally of Turkey, which has long backed the rebels who now control Damascus, and the two countries are looking to protect their interests in Syria after Assad’s fall.

The Israeli military said Thursday it targeted places associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including weapons storage facilities, sites to launch rockets, weapons manufacturing sites, and other military infrastructure, without providing evidence.

Palestinian health officials say the strikes killed at least 72 people since the ceasefire agreement was announced.

A U.S. official with knowledge of the ceasefire negotiations said Hamas made a last-minute revision that relates to the distance Israeli forces would withdraw from at least one largely populated area in Gaza that the official would not identify.

The issue is expected to be resolved quickly and enable the ceasefire to begin as planned this weekend, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.

Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions. He has enough opposition support to approve an agreement even without those partners, but doing so would weaken his coalition.

One of his far-right allies, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has already come out against the deal. Another, Bezalel Smotrich, posted on X late Wednesday that he was demanding “absolute certainty” that Israel can resume the war later, calling the current deal “bad and dangerous” for Israel.

The departure of both of their factions would seriously destabilize the government and could lead to early elections.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 72 people since a ceasefire deal was announced, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires take effect as a way to project strength.

The ministry says the toll from Thursday’s strikes only includes bodies brought to two hospitals in Gaza City, and that the actual toll is likely higher.

“Yesterday was a bloody day, and today is bloodier,” said Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department.

A group representing some families of soldiers killed fighting in Gaza held a demonstration Thursday against a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Gvura Forum opposes the deal, saying it won’t lead to Hamas’ destruction and that it will free Palestinians convicted of deadly crimes against Israelis. The agreement could also leave some Israeli hostages behind in Gaza if it collapses, the group said.

The group set up rows of mock coffins draped in the Israeli flag in Jerusalem to symbolize the price Israel will pay if it agrees to the deal.

“It’s a very dangerous deal,” said Yehoshua Shani, whose son Ori Mordehai Shani was killed in battle in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He believed the incoming Trump administration could exert more pressure on Hamas and secure better terms.

Many Israelis support a ceasefire deal that would bring the hostages home and end the war in Gaza. But some families of fallen soldiers and of hostages oppose any agreement that they perceive grants too many concessions to Hamas.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry voiced hopes Thursday that the long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip will help secure lasting stability in Gaza.

Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova praised “the patient and persistent work of Qatari and Egyptian mediators” who helped broker the agreement and noted that “at the final stage, representatives of the new American administration also joined the negotiating marathon.”

“We expect that the implementation of the agreement reached now will contribute to the sustainable stabilization of the situation in Gaza and create conditions for the return of all internally displaced persons ... and allow Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released as a result of the deal to join their families,” Zakharova said at a briefing.

She specifically mentioned Russian citizen Alexander Trufanov, who was held in the Gaza Strip along other hostages.

“We believe that the conclusion of this agreement will contribute to the formation of the necessary conditions for establishing a process of a comprehensive political settlement of the Palestinian problem on a generally accepted international legal basis,” Zakharova added.

Mourners held a Muslim funeral service on Thursday for a Palestinian journalist who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza the previous day.

The strike hit a food charity known as Tikia in the Muwasi area in the city of Khan Younis Wednesday evening as people were waiting for the announcement of the ceasefire deal, according to the Naser hospital and the journalists’ relatives.

The journalist, Ahmed al-Shaiyah, was killed in the strike along with three other people, according to the hospital, which received the bodies.

“Instead of receiving news of the truce, we received news of his martyrdom,” the journalist’s brother, Ismail al-Shaiyah, told the AP.

“We were waiting to rest and get rid of this nightmare, but my son was martyred in the last hour. He was gone from me,” said Nagat Moammar, mother of one of those killed.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called for “the arrest, trial, and punishment” of Israeli leaders for committing “the most serious war crimes,” Iranian media reported.

The state-run IRNA news agency said the United States, England, Germany and other Western countries also must be held accountable for their military, financial and political support of Israel in the war.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Israel-Hamas ceasefire “is very welcome,” noting that it will be a “huge relief to hostages and their families” along with “the very many Palestinians who have suffered hugely.”

Starmer, speaking with British broadcasters in Kyiv on Thursday, added that the path to lasting peace in Gaza “has to be a two-state solution, a viable Palestinian state and a safe and secure Israel.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday that Beijing welcomes the ceasefire deal and hopes it can be “effectively implemented so a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza can be achieved.”

China will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza and make “positive efforts” for post-war reconstruction, he added.

“We also sincerely hope that the relevant parties will take the Gaza ceasefire as an opportunity to promote the easing of local tensions. China is willing to work with the international community to make unremitting efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East,” Guo said.

The leader of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Harakat al-Nujaba announced Thursday the suspension of the group’s operations against Israel after the declaration of a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

In a statement, Akram al-Kaabi congratulated the Palestinian people and “freedom-loving” individuals worldwide on “this important development.”

“We will suspend our military operations against (Israel) in solidarity with the halt of operations in Palestine and to support the continuation of the ceasefire in Gaza, but let the occupying entity know that any foolishness from them in Palestine or the region will be met with a harsh response,” he added.

Al-Kaabi said the group’s missiles and drones “remain on permanent standby.”

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 48 people over the past day, even as mediators said they had brokered a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting with Hamas and secure the release of dozens of hostages.

In previous conflicts in the Middle East, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires go into effect as a way to project strength. Qatar, a key mediator, has said the latest ceasefire will go into effect Sunday.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the 48 bodies of people killed since midday Wednesday were brought to several hospitals. Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press.

He said the toll could increase as hospitals continue to update their records.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas backs down from what it called a “last minute crisis.”

Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt “to extort last minute concessions.” It did not elaborate.

The Israeli Cabinet was set to ratify the deal Thursday.

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on Thursday welcomed the ceasefire and called for its immediate implementation, along with the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

“Peace in Palestine cannot be achieved without the end of Israel’s occupation and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, in accordance with the two-state solution based on agreed international parameters,” it said in a statement.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has long been a strong supporter of Palestinians.