The agreement, which must still be approved by the Israeli cabinet, incited joy in the Gaza Strip and Israel, even as some feared that it could fall apart.

One Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City killed 18 people as Palestinians await the start of the ceasefire on Sunday.

The Gaza Strip ceasefire should begin on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a "loose end" at the last minute, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

If successful, the cease-fire deal would cap over a year of stop-start talks and lead to the biggest release of Israeli hostages since the early days of the conflict, when Hamas freed about half of its prisoners in exchange for 240 Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

Rifts with Hamas and a far-right minister’s threat to resign complicated progress toward the Israeli cabinet’s vote on the deal, which includes the release of hostages.

President Joe Biden and his top diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had sought closure during his term.

Qatar on Monday presented Israel and Hamas with a final draft of a deal to end the Gaza war, following a midnight breakthrough in talks attended by

Qatar says it is hopeful that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal could be agreed "very soon", with negotiators from Israel and Hamas beginning a "final stage" of indirect talks in Doha.

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers. For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of Rafah this week.

Ceasefire reached fifteen months after Israel vowed to wipe Hamas ‘off the face of the earth’ following 7 October attack

Behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings by the Reagan campaign and Team Trump clinched deals in the eleventh hour, showing Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden in a poor light