Under the deal, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas will free 20 living hostages in the first phase. A source within Hamas said the swap will involve nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, including 250 serving life sentences.

The Israeli army confirmed preparations to withdraw troops from Gaza as part of the agreement. The deal also aligns with a peace plan announced earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump, which proposes Hamas’s disarmament and a transitional authority to govern Gaza.

News of the ceasefire sparked widespread celebration in Gaza, where residents expressed relief after years of bombardment and displacement. “Tears of joy flowed,” said displaced resident Samer Joudeh. “After two years of fear and loss, we finally feel a moment of respite.”

Talks were held behind closed doors in Egypt’s resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with negotiators from Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. mediating. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed optimism, saying he would bring the hostages home “with God’s help.”

Read Also: Israel to ‘take control’ of Gaza City after approving new war plan

The war, which began after Hamas’s October 2023 attack that left over a thousand Israelis dead, has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to health authorities.

Global calls for peace have grown amid mounting humanitarian crises and international protests. Both Israel and Hamas face accusations of war crimes, while mediators continue to push for lasting peace in the region.

Source: Channel

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Sisi said Trump’s plan, which calls for a ceasefire, prisoner releases, Gaza reconstruction, and renewed political talks toward a Palestinian state, marked “the right path to lasting peace and stability.”

Reflecting on Egypt’s past peace with Israel, he said the accord that ended hostilities between the two countries remains “the foundation of future peace deals” and must be strengthened.

Read Also: Israel to ‘take control’ of Gaza City after approving new war plan

“Peace imposed by force only generates strife, while peace built on justice produces true normalisation,” Sisi said.

Egypt continues to serve as a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, alongside Qatar and the United States.

Source: Punch

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In a statement issued via social media, army spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged civilians to move to the Al-Mawasi area, describing it as a safer zone where thousands had already sought refuge.

“Take this opportunity to move early to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone and join the thousands of people who have already gone there,” the message read.

Read Also: Israel to ‘take control’ of Gaza City after approving new war plan

The call comes amid mounting speculation that Israeli forces are preparing a major operation to capture Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the territory.

No timeline was given for the potential offensive, but the renewed warning signals an escalation in military activity in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Source: Channels

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Under the plan to “defeat” Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army “will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones”, the premier’s office said.

Before the decision, Netanyahu said Israel planned to take full control of Gaza but did not intend to govern it.

He told US network Fox News on Thursday that the military would seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, noting that Israel did not want “to keep” the territory, which it occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005.

Netanyahu said Israel wanted a “security perimeter” and to hand the Palestinian territory to “Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us”.

“That’s not possible with Hamas,” he added.

His office on Friday said a majority of the security cabinet had adopted “five principles”, including demilitarisation of the territory and “the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.

The plan drew criticism from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said it was “wrong” and “will only bring more bloodshed”.

“This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages,” said Starmer, who has threatened to recognise a Palestinian state.

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Israel’s operation, which began early Friday, has targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing dozens of people including top army commanders and atomic scientists, according to Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to hit “every target of the ayatollah regime”, and Iran has retaliated with a deadly barrage of missiles.

While Trump had said he was aware of the Israeli operation before it started, he reiterated Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform that the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight.”’

He added that “we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”

During his first term, a landmark nuclear accord with Iran — negotiated under former president Barack Obama — was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions.

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Hamas said the return of the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her two young boys, Kfir and Ariel, and a fourth captive, Oded Lifshitz, would take place in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

This would be the first set of corpses Hamas will hand over since the October 7, 2023 attack.

Hamas had separately kidnapped Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father and Shiri’s husband on October 7, 2023, and was released from the Gaza Strip in a previous hostage-prisoner exchange on February 1.

The repatriation of their bodies is part of the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Read Also: Iran Guards Hail Gaza Ceasefire As Victory For Palestinians

Under the first phase of the ceasefire, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps.

Israel says eight of the remaining 14 Gaza hostages eligible for release under phase one are dead.

The Bibas family members have become national symbols of the hostage ordeal, capturing the despair that has gripped the nation since the Hamas attack.

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Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf also welcomed the deal which made the Zionist regime fail in achieving its strategic goal.

Read Also: Iran Welcomes End Of Israel ‘Aggression’ In Lebanon — Foreign Ministry

He called for action to punish the criminal regime and heal the wounds of the Palestinian nation.

On Wednesday Qatar and the United States announced a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas.

The truce would take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a broader peace deal would be finalised.

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Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a source familiar with the plan said  that the State Department has officially notified Congress of the proposed sale to support Israel’s long-term security by resupplying stocks of critical munitions and air defense capabilities.

The preliminary notification gives congressional committees an opportunity to scrutinize the proposed sale before a formal notification is sent to Congress.

The official further stated that the weapons package includes medium-range air-to-air missiles to defend against aerial threats, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 155mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targeting, and 500-pound warheads.

The Biden administration is said to have provided Israel with billions in arms aid since Israeli forces launched a massive attack on Hamas militants in Gaza in response to their deadly October 7 surprise attack in southern Israel.

It was also gathered that the outgoing U.S. president has repeatedly vowed ironclad support for Israel.

However, against the backdrop of a rising Palestinian death toll—now over 45,700, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza—and the increasingly dire conditions facing civilians, U.S. support has become a sensitive political issue.

The incoming president, Donald Trump, an outspoken supporter of Israel, said during the U.S. presidential campaign that if elected, he would quickly end the Gaza war, although he did not explain how.

United Nations officials say that as many as 70 percent of those killed in the Gaza hostilities have been women or children, and aid agencies have described the harrowing conditions facing civilians.

The Biden administration has urged Israel to increase humanitarian aid, but after threatening to curb arms shipments if the aid situation did not improve, it declined to do so in November.

Recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have reportedly killed several dozen people, according to the Gaza health ministry.

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The WHO in a statement on X  said that initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burned and destroyed during the raid.

Gaza health officials said that Israeli forces had detained the director of the hospital.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said that occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hussam Abu Safia.

Read Also: Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills Hezbollah media chief

The ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safia as saying the military had set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital and that there were a large number of injuries among the medical team.

The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire.

Israel’s military began a renewed ground offensive in northern Gaza in October and has claimed that the hospital had become a key stronghold for terrorist organisations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives.

Before initiating the latest attack on the hospital, the Israeli military said its soldiers had facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel.

Hamas denied its fighters were present in the hospital and urged the UN to set up an investigation committee to examine the scale of crime being committed in northern Gaza.

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Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the president urged pilgrims to view their journey as an opportunity to strengthen their faith in God.

Read Also: Claim 600 Hajj pilgrims absconded in S’Arabia false – NAHCON

He noted that the theme of the 2024 pilgrimage, “Pilgrimage of Renewed Hope for Total Restoration,” aligns with his administration’s vision and agenda.

Tinubu warned the intending pilgrims against absconding while in the Holy Land, stressing that there is no better place than home.

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