8.57am BST
Here are some of the latest images from Gaza coming through our wires:
8.25am BST
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after a government meeting to approve the US-brokered deal to release all hostages and implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
8.16am BST
The Times of Israel reports that Gaza’s civil defence service has issued a warning to Palestinians not to approach the areas where the Israeli forces are present, particularly towards the border, until the IDF has officially announced their withdrawal and officials confirm this. “Violating this warning puts your life at risk,” the statement, distributed on Telegram, read. “We urge everyone to comply for your safety, and to facilitate the work of emergency teams and field authorities.”
Updated at 8.21am BST
8.00am BST No plans for British or European troops to be in Gaza, UK foreign seretary says
There are no plans for British or European troops to be in Gaza after the ceasefire agreement, the UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said. “That’s not our plan, there’s no plans to do that,” she said on Friday morning to BBC Breakfast. She added: “But there is an immediate proposal for the US to lead what is effectively like a monitoring process to make sure that this happens on the ground, to oversee the process with hostage release, and also making sure that this first stage is implemented, getting the aid in place, but they have also made very clear that they expect the troops on the ground to be provided by neighbouring states, and that is something that we do expect to happen.” Cooper said she hopes the ceasefire will be implemented “immediately”. According to the foreign secretary, there are international discussions on an “international security force” and the UK was continuing to contribute in other ways, including looking at getting private finance into Gaza. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Cooper later added: “This has to be the beginning of the end of the war, and the delivery of a just and lasting peace, of security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. We’ve had two agonising years of suffering, tens of thousands of lives lost, hostages being held far away from their families for two years.”
Updated at 8.53am BST
7.58am BST Israel’s government approves deal for hostages’ release as US troops to ‘oversee’ truce
Israel’s government has ratified a plan for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas in a key step towards ending the devastating two-year war. Senior officials in Washington said a US military team of 200 people would be deployed in the region to “oversee” the truce after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of the Trump administration’s plan to halt the fighting. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the cabinet early on Friday approved the “outline” of a deal to release all the hostages – living and dead – without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are contentious. An Israeli official said that, according to the agreement, the ceasefire should begin immediately after the government approval. The Israeli military had 24 hours to pull back its forces to an agreed-upon line. After that period, the hostages held in Gaza would be freed within 72 hours, a government spokesperson said. Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the ceasefire deal was announced, while there was joy but also anxiety in Gaza amid fears the new deal could collapse. In other key developments:
Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said he had received guarantees from the US and other mediators that the war was over. The head of the US military’s Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, would initially have 200 people on the ground, a senior US official said. “His role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations.” Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and probably Emirati military officials would be embedded in the team, the US official said. A second official said that “no US troops are intended to go into Gaza”. Israeli strikes continued in the hours leading up to the Israeli cabinet’s vote. Explosions were seen on Thursday in northern Gaza, and a strike on a building in Gaza City killed at least two people and left more than 40 trapped under rubble, according to Palestinian civil defence. At least 11 dead Palestinians and another 49 who were wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said. Israel was hitting targets that posed a threat to its troops as they reposition, said an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Hamas blasted Israel over the strike, saying Netanyahu was trying to “shuffle the cards and confuse” efforts by mediators to end the war. Twenty Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead, and the fate of two is unknown The Trump administration broader 20-point ceasefire plan includes many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm. But both sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending the war, which was triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, promoting an Israeli response that has left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Al Jazeera reports that the US military will set up a task force of 200 troops, although they will not be entering the enclave, White House sources say. The IDF said Mordechai Nachmani, a 26-year-old reservist soldier, was killed in a Hamas sniper attack in Gaza City on Thursday afternoon. This came after Israeli and Hamas negotiators signed a deal in Egypt to secure the release of the hostages, however the ceasefire part of the agreement had not yet taken place. Israeli outlet Haaretz has published the names of Palestinian prisoners it believes could be released as part of the new deal. 250 Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences are expected to be released as part of the agreement, out of approximately 290 currently held in Israeli prison. 22 children will also be freed.