Thousands of displaced, war-weary Gazans set off across the devastated Palestinian territory to return to their home areas yesterday after a long-awaited truce between Israel and Hamas took effect following an initial delay.

A ceasefire in the Gaza war will begin today morning, mediator Qatar said after Israel’s cabinet voted to approve the truce and hostage-prisoner release deal.

Two judges were killed in a shooting attack yesterday at the Supreme Court building in Tehran, state media reported.

With a pending Gaza ceasefire and Donald Trump returning as US president, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader must now decide whether to recognise Israel before a Palestinian state is created.

Two judges were killed in a shooting attack on Saturday outside the Supreme Court building in Tehran, state media reported

The Israeli security cabinet has ratified the Gaza ceasefire and hostage return deal, ahead of a full cabinet meeting expected later yesterday, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

The release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel is expected to begin on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday

Israel airstrikes killed 77 people in Gaza yesterday, residents and authorities in the enclave said, hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to bring an end to 15 months of offensive.

Qatar’s prime minister announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed yesterday to a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, adding he hoped the deal would pave the way for a permanent end to the fighting.

Negotiators were meeting in Qatar yesterday hoping to finalise details of a plan to end the offensive in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was imminent.

Mediators yesterday gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal to end the Israeli offensive in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by envoys of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

 The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza yesterday said that 32 people were killed in the Palestinian territory over the past 48 hours, taking the overall death toll to 46,537.

Research published in The Lancet medical journal yesterday estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of Israeli offensive was around 40 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

The Israeli military said yesterday that its air force had struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including a power station and ports on the western coast.

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said yesterday.

Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed at least 27 people yesterday, Palestinian medics said, as international mediators stepped up efforts to seal a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The UN’s World Food Programme has accused Israel of firing on one of its aid convoys in the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying at least 16 bullets hit the clearly marked vehicles but no staff were injured.

Iran’s military has begun drills near the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in the centre of the country, state media reported yesterday, as part of exercises planned nationwide.

Israel and Hamas have wrangled over the details of a deal to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip and return hostages home, as Palestinian officials said intensified Israeli bombardments had killed more than 100 people over the weekend.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll of the offensive to 45,805.