Gaza ceasefire latest: Deal approved as time truce comes into effect announced

Missile fired from Yemen intercepted over Israel

We can bring you a little more information now on reports we brought you earlier of sirens sounding out across Israel (see post at 8.25am).

The Israeli military has said sirens sounded in central Israel as it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.

While we don't have more details yet, we do know that the Iran-backed Houthi group has repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what it has described as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

'Great deal of anxiety' about truce - as uncertainty remains

There is a "great deal of anxiety" about this ceasefire  agreement between Hamas and Israel, our international correspondent Alex Rossi reports.

He says "all the main hurdles" seem to be out of the way and it does appear that the truce will go ahead.

"The actual mechanism of the prisoner and hostage exchange are not clear," he adds.

"Hostages will be exchanged at three points in Gaza but the details are still to be released."

In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages are to be set free over the course of six weeks - with at least three released each week.

In return for the release of the hostages, Israel will free between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hezbollah chief says deal shows 'persistence of resistance' against Israel

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has congratulated Palestinians for the Gaza ceasefire deal.

In his first comments since the truce was agreed, he said the truce proved the "persistence of resistance" against Israel.

"This deal, which was unchanged from what was proposed in May 2024, proves the persistence of resistance groups, which took what they wanted while Israel was not able to take what it sought," Qassem said in a speech.

Qassem is Hezbollah's new leader and replaced Hassan Nasrallah after his assassination in Beirut at the end of September last year.

Sirens sounding in central Israel

Sirens are currently sounding across central Israel, including in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the Israeli government is reporting.

The sirens come ahead of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which will go into effect in less than 24 hours.

Israel preparing for return of hostages

Israel is preparing for the return of the hostages from Gaza after its government approved a deal last night.

While it's impossible to know the exact conditions in which hostages have been held, the Health Ministry and the Hostages Family Forum, which represents families of the hostages, are preparing for several different scenarios based on information they have gathered.

Hagai Levine, who heads the health team at the forum, told the Associated Press that he expects the hostages to return with cardiovascular and respiratory issues due to a lack of ventilation in the tunnels. 

He also expects vitamin deficiencies, starvation, dramatic weight loss, vision problems due to a lack of sunlight, broken bones, cognitive impairment and mental health trauma.

Six hospitals are preparing to receive hostages, including two in the south, closer to Gaza, that will treat those with acute medical issues, health ministry officials have said.

To minimise the hostages' trauma, officials will try to limit the number of people who interact with them and have made accommodations to lessen their sensory stimulation, such as stripping down the hospital rooms and changing the lighting.

 does it say and how many hostages and prisoners will be released?

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that will see 33 hostages set free in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza has been reached.

The pause in the fighting will take effect tomorrow morning at 6.30am UK time.

The multi-stage deal will also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.

Details of what the agreement entails have been emerging on Wednesday after the initial news of the deal broke.

Gaza ceasefire to begin tomorrow at 6.30am - after Israel approves deal

We brought you reports last night that Israel's full cabinet has approved the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Now Qatari officials who brokered the deal have said the ceasefire will come into effect at 6.30am UK time.

The Israeli government has approved a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners that will pause the 15-month war with Hamas for six weeks.

The government announced the approval last night and confirmed the ceasefire will go into effect on Sunday. 

Mediators in Qatar and the US announced the ceasefire on Wednesday, but the deal was in limbo for more than a day.

In its first stage, the deal would see 33 of the 98 hostages freed over the course of six weeks. About half of the 98 are believed to be alive.

The remainder are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released in exchange, depending on the number of hostages freed.

Israeli cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire accord

Israel's full cabinet has approved the Gaza ceasefire deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said.

In the early hours of Saturday after meeting for more than six hours, the government ratified the agreement.

Under the deal, bitterly opposed by some cabinet hardliners, a six-week ceasefire is due to take effect on Sunday, with the first of a series of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges that could open the way to ending the 15-month war in Gaza.

According to reports, 24 ministers in Netanyahu's coalition government voted in favour of the deal while eight opposed it. 

On Friday, the Israeli security cabinet voted in favour of the ceasefire accord. 

Most prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails

As part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel will release Palestinians detained in Israeli jails in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages being held by militant group Hamas. 

The truce is due to begin on Sunday, and so far there's no final agreement on which prisoners will be released, partly because it is unclear how many hostages are still alive or will be freed.

There are currently 10,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, although that figure does not include people arrested in Gaza during the last 15 months of conflict, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.

These are some of the most prominent Palestinian figures being held in Israeli prisons.

'Why did you kill my daughter?' Ceasefire comes too late for many in Gaza

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will go into effect too late for Akram Abu Ahmed to see his children again, writes Chantal Da Silva for our US partner network NBC News.

His family's sole survivor after an Israeli airstrike, Ahmed was sleeping in the area of Gaza City in the early hours of Thursday after celebrating news of the truce when he heard a loud sound and was thrown into the air.

"Dust and screams surrounded me," Abu Ahmed said. His wife and three of his children were killed, including a daughter whom he said was a doctor.

"Is this what they aim for? Killing doctors?" he said. Addressing his next question to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said: "Why did you kill my daughter?"

CIA employee pleads guilty over leak of classified Israeli plans

A CIA employee who was accused of leaking classified documents about Israel's plans to strike Iran pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal charges that he willfully retained and transmitted national defence information, the US department of justice said. 

Asif William Rahman, 34, from Vienna, Virginia, who worked at the US intelligence agency since 2016, acknowledged he illegally downloaded, printed and distributed classified information on multiple occasions, including several in 2024. 

On 17 October 2024, he printed two documents related to plans by a US ally to strike a foreign adversary, the court records said.

Those documents, which entailed plans by Israel to strike Iran, later appeared online after a pro-Iranian Telegram account called "Middle East Spectator" published them. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on 15 May.

Israeli cabinet meets over ceasefire deal

Israel's full cabinet is meeting to consider the ceasefire deal, an Israeli official has told our US partner network, NBC News.

Despite opposition from far-right ministers, it looks likely Benjamin Netanyahu has the votes to pass it.

The meeting comes after the smaller security cabinet voted to approve the deal earlier today.

'It's a bad deal for the hostages and for the security of Israel'

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal aims to end the war and free hostages kidnapped during the 7 October attack - but in Israel, opinions on the agreement are divided.

The deal would see Israel free between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in return for the release of the hostages.

Sky News spoke to people in Tel Aviv and heard a range of contrasting views about the ceasefire deal.

"It's a bad deal for the hostages, for the security of Israel, or the whole West... It's showing all you need to do is kidnap a bunch of people," says Elan Hyman.

"That fact that we're only receiving 33 hostages over 47 days, it just shows we haven't done enough, we have more work to do."

"We need to get Hamas into a position - to a point where it's on its knees begging us to take the hostages back because it can't take any more," he adds.

"It's not a deal that a defeated terrorist organisation proposes."

Demonstrations held in Yemen to show support for Palestinians

Crowds of people have gathered in Yemen's capital to hold a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians. 

The city is run by the Houthis - a militant organisation which is backed by Iran, similarly to Hamas in Gaza. 

Many of the protesters were Houthi supporters, according to Reuters. 

The demonstration was held after Israeli strikes continued to hit parts of Gaza following the announcement of the ceasefire deal, which is expected to take effect on Sunday. 

UNRWA ready to distribute aid to Gaza - but it faces a major political obstacle

The United Nations Relief Works Agency is ready to distribute aid to Gaza, its chief has confirmed. 

"We need and there is absolutely no doubt a rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access to respond to the tremendous suffering in Gaza," UNRWA's commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said. 

The relief agency faces a major political obstacle in the coming days - Israel's parliament has voted to ban UNRWA from operating in the Palestinian territories.

That legislation takes effect on 28 January. 

Lazzarini warned that a shutdown of its operations by Israel would be catastrophic. 

"The disintegration of the agency would intensify the breakdown of social order," he warned. 

Will the ceasefire actually hold?

After 15 months of fighting, there is some hope that we've come to the end of this part of the conflict, military analyst Sean Bell has said.

The challenge is that ceasefire deals only occur when fighting is at a stalemate or one side has won decisively and the other lost - neither is totally the case here.

And the next phases bring with them much more pressure - so why is this deal happening now and will it hold?

Palestinian Authority 'fully prepared' to assume control of Gaza

The Palestinian Authority has said it is fully prepared to assume immediate responsibility in Gaza after a ceasefire agreement is reached.

Who will run Gaza after the war remains one of the great unanswered questions in the negotiations.

The PA was formed in 1994 as a stepping stone to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.

It was to be part of the two-state solution that was the bedrock of the US-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The accords led the PLO to recognise Israel's right to exist and renounce violence.

Palestinians hoped the creation of the PA would be a step towards an independent state - a prospect that appears as far away as ever.

Hamas seized Gaza in 2007 from the PA in a brief civil war and the authority now exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation.

-SKY NEWS