The Israeli Cabinet will convene early Friday to ratify a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal with Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media on Thursday. The Israel Broadcasting Authority KAN reported the developments on X, citing an official. The agreement, announced by Qatar on Wednesday, is set to take effect Sunday.

Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip expressed their hope and joy over news of a potential ceasefire deal after mediators said Israel and Hamas were at the closest point yet to sealing an agreement.

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman.

Doctor Khaled al-Saidani checks a patient at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah city, central Gaza Strip, on Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Doctor Khaled al-Saidani is seen at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah city, central Gaza Strip, on Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Three airstrikes in the city hit a car ... evening killed three people in Bureij and three others in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were ...

They daydreamed about the people they would hug as soon as the truce took hold, the graves they would visit and the homes they would rebuild.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire th

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages until Hamas backs down,

(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP ... its not enough,” said Umm Adham Shaheen, displaced from Gaza City. American and Arab mediators have spent nearly a year ...

It comes as Israeli strikes have killed dozens in Gaza ahead of the truce which is expected to take effect on Sunday.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 27 people, as the military issued new evacuation calls in northern areas